European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 18, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 46 stars and stripes sunday March 18 2007 Duke loses in first round for first time since 1996 by John Wawrow the associated press Buffalo by Jerry Sein Feld was the reigning sitcom King Bill Clinton was still in his first term As president and Duke soph Omore Center Josh Mcroberts was barely 9 years old the year was 1996 the last time the Duke Blue devils failed to Advance to the second round of the Mcaa tournament a dominating 11year run ended thursday night the result of Eric mayors 15foot Juniper from just above the foul line that swished through the mesh with 18 seconds left to propel Virginia Commonwealth to a 7977 West regional Victory Pittsburgh 79 Wright state 58 at Buffalo by there was no first round exit this time for Pittsburgh the panthers ousted in the first round seven times in 18 pre Vious tournament appearances used their Long Range shooting in Stead of their brawn hitting 10 of 21 three pointers in their Victory Over the raiders Ronald Ramon hit four threes and finished with 14 Points and Sam Young had 13 to Lead the panthers who never trailed Pittsburgh the third seed in the West will meet let seeded Virginia common wealth 286 in the second round on saturday ecu upset Duke 7977 on thursday Pittsburgh built 13point leads three times in the first half against Wright state hit Ting seven of 12 three pointers and forging a 4330 Lead at the break when the panthers began the second half with an 113 spurt the raiders  recover Urcla 70 Weber St 42 at Sacramento Calif Arron Afflalo put an awful game behind him in Duclas impressive opener shaking off a terrible performance in the pac10 tournament Afflalo had 22 Points and eight re Bounds against Weber state Darren Collison had 14 Points and eight assists despite playing on a sprained ankle for the Sec on seeded Bruins Dezmon Harris led Weber state 2012 with 10 Points the associated press mayors shot in final seconds lifts ecu Over Blue devils As the rams celebrated their first tournament Victory in 22 years some 50 paces Down the Hall the mood was dejected As players in the Blue devils locker room coming to grips with a rare Early trip Home leave the perspective to Mike Krzyzewski the coach who has enjoyed the highest of highs three National championships and 10 final four appearances and More than a few stumbles along the Way if youre in this tournament Long enough youre going to go Down Krzyzewski said theres 260 or 270 teams that dont get into this thing its not our Birthright each year it just seemed that Way the loss ended Dukes string of roundof16 appearances at nine the longest Active Streak and Sec on longest Overall behind North Carolinas 13year run and it pre vented Krzyzewski from building on his tournament record Victory total Hes stuck at 68 with 20 losses its somehow fitting that the loss came against Virginia Commonwealth considering the rams won the colonial athletic association championship by knocking off George Mason the mid major team which last year made a surprising run to the final four Maynor sparked that Victory Over the too scoring nine of his 20 Points in the final 2 minutes this one Felt better Maynor scoring six of his 22 Points in the final it Felt like it was Good May nor said describing his decisive shot and for it to go in i said to myself Man i just hit the game Winner on Duke University after Duke guard Demarcus Nelson went the length of the court to hit a Layup with 103 seconds left Maynor took the ensuing inbound pass and moved across Center mid court he pulled up and hit a perfect jumper from just above the foul line Over Dukes Jon Scheyer Virginia Commonwealth will face third seeded Pittsburgh on saturday Duke meanwhile is headed Home capping an inconsistent season with a Gutty but flawed Effort the Blue devils entered the tournament having lost three straight including an uncharacteristic first round exit from the acc tournament this was a team that featured Only two upperclassmen Dukes most inexperienced roster since 194546 three pointers lift hoosiers Over tags Marcio Jose Indiana do White celebrates near the end of the second half against Gonzaga on thursday night at Arco Arena in Sacramento Calif Indiana Defeated Gonzaga 7057 and will face Urcla in the second round by Janie Mccauley the associated press Sacramento Calif Ana faced such a Tough offensive Challenge against Gonzaga that Kelvin Sampson just asked his team to stay aggressive and the opportunities would come he  have predicted that would mean open three Pointer after open three Pointer for Rod Erick Wilmont Simpsons hoosiers have played Many a game this season in which they won while looking anything but pretty and their Mcaa tournament opener was no different Wilmont scored 22 Points and hit six of his teams nine three pointers and Indiana avenged a loss to the tags last March with a 7057 Victory thurs Day night in a West regional matchup pitted As one of the top first round games in the tournament obviously we looked to score but both teams were playing great defense Wilmont said coach told us to keep on being aggressive Wilmont shot 8for16 and also added seven rebounds three assists and a steal to extend his senior season for seventh seeded in Diana which was eliminated by the tags 9080 in a Sec Ond round meeting a year ago the scrappy hoosiers with their signature Candy Cane Warmup pants and Blu Collar swag Ger have rarely played error free basketball in getting this far yet they showed none of that matters now there alive for another game snapping the tags Streak of four straight years winning their Mcaa opener Indiana will play Urcla last years Mcaa runner up in the second round saturday night the first meeting Between the schools since the hoosiers won their regional finals match in 1992 Indiana leading scorer do White who missed last years loss to Gonzaga because of a broken left foot scored All but two of his 16 Points in the second half As the hoosiers quickly took control and built on their 3429 Lead at the break David Pendergraft had 12 Points and five rebounds and Sean Mallon 11 Points and six boards for lot seeded Gonzaga the defeat ended a tumultuous season for the Spokane Wash school which Only last month lost starting Center Josh Heytvelt to a drug arrest and indefinite suspension from the program mothers pay is May 13th Send a message for free at Stripe com and will accept mothers Day messages at Stripe com from March 30 to april 23 messages will be published in the Mideast european and Pacific editions on May 12 greetings will also be online for viewing at Stripe com starting May 12 visit stripes com for More details