Semifinal #1
By Ed Miller
Tolu Smith said no.
With 47 seconds left in a Portsmouth Invitational Tournament semi-final Friday night, the 6-foot-11 center from Mississippi State smacked a layup attempt by Florida’s 6-10 Tyrese Samuel off the backboard, helping preserve an 89-87 win for Jani-King over Mike Duman Auto Sales.
“We needed it,” Smith said of his big defensive play, which prevented a go-ahead bucket by Samuel.
Smith also grabbed the defensive rebound, his 16th of the night. He made a short jumper to put his team up three with 24 seconds left. He finished with 18 points, tying A.J. Hoggard of Michigan State for team high.
Mike Duman was led by Eric Gaines of UAB, who scored 20 points and had four assists.
Jani-King had a 46-36 edge on the boards, mostly due to the hard inside work of the rugged Smith, who described his game as “traditional, but versatile.”
Timely as well.