New Mexico State's basketball team would have been better off Monday night if it stayed home and watched 'M-A-S-H' on television.
Instead, it lost 75-73 at Drake in a wild finish with one of its players escorted to the locker room in handcuffs by a Des Moines, Iowa police officer.
With the score 73-73 and one second remaining, Dana Dunson of Drake took an inbounds pass from Stephon Butler. He missed his first shot but tipped in the rebound to win the Missouri Valley Conference game.
The swift turn of events had the New Mexico State bench in a lather. With the Aggies protesting the fact that more than a second expired on the shot clock, a fight nearly broke out between several New Mexico State players and Drake fans.
That brought on the police, who handcuffed a New Mexico State player and accompanied him to the locker room. Officials said no charges will be filed.
New Mexico State Coach Weldon Drew was too angered to talk to reporters afterward.
'Weldon Drew is one class person,' said Drake Coach Gary Garner. 'If he was protesting, he really thought it was that way.'
'Our players were at the scorer's table because they felt it was the longest second they have ever seen,' said Kirk Hendrix, the Aggies' sports information director. 'They didn't think they (Drake) could put it up against the glass, get the rebound and score a basket all in one second.'
The ending was all the more infuriating for New Mexico State, which had the ball with one second remaining after Drake's Ricky Watley banked in a 6-footer to tie it 73-73. Elston Jones failed to inbound in less than five seconds and Drake took possession. That set the stage for Dunson and the chaotic finish.
Ernest Patterson led New Mexico State with 26 points. Drake, which rallied from a 55-45 deficit with 13:33 left, was led by Watley with 17 points and freshman Melvin Mathis with 16.
New Mexico State would have been wiser to follow the example of Manhattan College in New York. The school postponed its opening-round game with Army in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference playoffs so its students could watch the final episode of 'M-A-S-H.'
'It's in the best interest of all to postpone the game,' a school spokesman said. 'We didn't want to create a conflict.'
In the Top 20, No. 6 Louisville beat Murray State 66-58, No. 13 Memphis State defeated Cincinnati 84-77, and No. 19 Tennessee-Chattanooga downed Tennessee Temple 78-72.
At Louisville, Ky., Milt Wagner scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half as Louisville beat Murray State. The Cardinals have won 17 of their last 18, but coach Denny Crum was not pleased with the latest effort.
'We weren't mentally ready at any point in the game,' he said. 'We weren't that sharp. We didn't play like a top-10 team.'
At Memphis, Tenn., Keith Lee struck for 28 points and Bobby Parks added 25 to power Memphis State. Cincinnati, 1-10 in the Metro Conference, got 29 points and 13 rebounds from Dwight 'Jelly' Jones.
At Chattanooga, Tenn., Stanford Strickland had 13 points and six rebounds as Tennessee-Chattanooga had an easy time against its cross-town rival. The Moccasins, 22-3, have clinched the Southern Conference title.
St. Peter's, behind 24 points each by Shelton Gibbs and Tommy Best, beat Fairfield 70-67 in the opening round of the MAAC playoffs; and Staten Island won its third straight City University of New York title, beating John Jay 74-56 with Ron Chase scoring 17 points.
In other games, Jimmy Foster hit for 22 points and South Carolina beat Florida State 79-76 to raise its record to 19-8; Claude Riley scored 20 points and Texas A&M ripped Texas 96-59, sending the Longhorns to their 20th loss; Ron Jackson's 3-point play with seven seconds left gave Providence a 72-69 victory over Pittsburgh; Louisiana State dropped Florida 91-87 in overtime behind 22 points by Howard Carter and 21 by Jerry Reynolds; Jeff Turner scored 25 points, including two foul shots with four seconds left, as Vanderbilt clipped Georgia 71-70; Alfredrick Hughes fired in 35 points and broke the season scoring record at Loyola (Ill.) in an 83-72 decision over Butler; and Oregon State topped Arizona State 108-93 to move into third place in the Pac-10.
