NCAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : East Roundup : Tech Is Big Winner Over Syracuse

Georgia Tech used the inside strength of 6-11 Yvon Joseph and 7-0 John Salley to defeat Syracuse, 70-53, Sunday in the second round of the NCAA East Regional tournament at Atlanta.

Joseph scored 17 points and Salley had 13, including 10 in the second half, as the Yellow Jackets advanced to Thursday night’s regional semifinals at Providence R.I., where they will face Illinois, a 74-58 winner over Georgia Sunday.

“I’m proud of our big people,” Tech Coach Bobby Cremins said. “It was an unbelievable win. The score was no indication of the game.”

Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim agreed.

“The big guy Joseph hurt us inside the whole game,” he said, adding that Tech’s defense also gave the Orangemen trouble.

“They pushed us outside and just played excellent team defense,” Boeheim said.

Tech (26-7) held a 28-27 halftime lead and then used a 6-0 spurt early in the second half to build a 37-29 advantage.

Bruce Dalrymple started it with two free throws, Scott Petway hit a 15-foot shot after a steal and Salley converted another steal into a slam dunk to end the streak with 15:49 left in the game.

Syracuse (22-9) was never able to get closer than three the rest of the way.

Mark Price led Tech with 18 points and Dalrymple added 10 before fouling out with just over two minutes to play.

Rafael Addison led the Orangemen with 17 points and Alexis added 11.

Illinois 74, Georgia 58--The usually conservative Illini turned to the fastbreak and, with 6-4 guard Doug Altenberger leading a 16-point scoring spree late in the first half, won easily.

Illinois (26-8), the last of six Big 10 teams to survive in the NCAA tournament, was nursing a 16-15 lead when Georgia suddenly went scoreless for 9:12 against a tenacious zone defense.

“Anytime you hold a Georgia team to 58 points, you’ve done a real good job,” Illinois Coach Lou Henson said. “We started in a zone and when they weren’t hitting from outside, we stayed with it.”

Georgia (22-9) had an opportunity to take the lead when Henson was handed a technical foul 10:32 before halftime, but Horace McMillan missed both free throws and the Illini then began their run.

Altenberger started it with a 16-footer from the left side with 9:50 remaining and ended it on a nice drive with 3:13 to play to give Illinois a 32-15 lead.

Illinois led, 34-19, at halftime, then scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 41-19 advantage.

Georgia made one run at the Illini, reeling off 10 consecutive points, including eight in 37 seconds, to cut the lead to 47-37.

Illinois then pulled steadily away and Georgia never threatened again.

“We were in the game when it was 16-15, then it was Illinois the rest of the way,” Georgia Coach Hugh Durham said.

Efrem Winters led Illinois with 19 points. Altenberger had 16 and Ken Norman 15.

Joe Ward led Georgia with 17 and Henderson added 13.