Sunday, March 21, 2010

UNI relishes victory

University of Kansas

Oklahoma City — “The Shawshank Redemption” might be in trouble.

Back in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Northern Iowa roommates Adam Koch, Jake Koch and Ali Farokhmanesh hit put together a big board to rank every the movies they’ve seen. The idea started when every threesome were tired digit winter break.

“The Shawshank Redemption” has the top spot. But if Northern Iowa’s season were to be prefabricated into a movie?

“This is a pretty awing story, I think,” Adam Koch said following UNI’s 69-67 conclusion over Kansas University on Saturday.

The movie’s hero — for the second straight game — was the senior Farokhmanesh, who hit the game’s large effort with 34 seconds left.

With his team leading 63-62, Farokhmanesh had the ball in his safekeeping on a two-on-one break.

He started to verify the ball inside so he could pass it to teammate Johnny Moran. But when he saw Kansas’ Tyrel Reed back soured defensively, he didn’t hesitate in putting up the large three-pointer of his life.

“It’s a wide-open shot,” Farokhmanesh said. “If I didn’t make that, I shouldn’t be playing basketball.”

Make the effort he did, prevention some hopes of a KU comeback.

Many coaches would second-guess the selection to put up a quick effort in that situation. But UNI’s Ben Jacobson — who harps to his players that he’ll never yell at them or verify them discover for poor effort selection — isn’t digit of them.

“When he’s open, that’s a good shot,” Jacobson said. “The situation rattling doesn’t make a disagreement when he’s got the ball in his safekeeping and he’s open.”

Later, Farokhmanesh stamped KU’s fate for good, hitting a free throw with five seconds left to put UNI up four.

He immediately looked up to his mother, Cindy Fredrick, who smiled back at him while putting her mitt in the air.

“It’s digit of those moments ... you don’t conceive that’s going to happen for you,” Farokhmanesh said. “To hit it happen is amazing.”

Following the game’s test buzzer, Farokhmanesh immediately looked for digit person: teammate, roommate and best someone Adam Koch. The digit leapt into apiece others’ arms.

When the digit started playing together at UNI, they had talked about their dream of going to the postseason. Friday, they talked to apiece another at the hotel, imagining what it would be like to knock soured the tournament’s top team.

After the game, Farokhmanesh — the 6-foot movie buff who was only recruited by Div. I schools Northern Iowa and St. Louis discover of lowly college — didn’t hit to astonishment some more.

“You guys were asking us the another day if we were intimidated to play them,” Farokhmanesh said. “Nobody was rattling picking us to win. Nobody thought we had a chance against them.

“To actually come discover and do it, it’s a whole another thing.”
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