MIAA Tournament blog Day 3: Western still dancing One day these are the run-and-gun Griffons. The next, they're playing something resembling the grinding pace of the Big 10. And it's all been gravy in K.C.

The Griffons beat Baptist at the Bearcats' high-octane game on Thursday and then beat Fort Hays at the Tigers' half-court style Saturday. Now, Western is one win away from something seemingly unthinkable at any point in the past three years – an NCAA tournament berth.

And just like Western caught Baptist at the best time Thursday (with starters Nick Kovacevich and Matt Rogers out), the Griffons might be facing Central Missouri in Sunday's final at the ideal moment. The Mules' leading scorer, Sanijay Watts, injured his left knee Saturday, and even if he plays against Western, I have to imagine the All-MIAA first-teamer will be gimpy.

Watts is the idea player to face Western – an active, undersized forward who scored 42 points in his two meetings with the Griffons. And Central point guard Alex Moosmann is playing with an injured shoulder. He had 34 points and 15 assists against Western. The Mules also have played back-to-back overtime games in the tournament.

It takes a little fortune to succeed this time of year. After Western's bad luck in regular-season losses to Rockhurst (the underhanded 3-pointer), Baptist (controversial out-of-bounds call), Truman (a buzzer beater) and Washburn (terrible last possession with chance to tie or win), things are finally bouncing the Griffons' way.

On Saturday, Marcus Rhodes flung a loose ball rebound in the air, and it happened to swish in. Dominique Thuston banked in a crucial second-half shot. And most of those loose balls and 50-50 officials' calls went Western's way. As Fort Hays coach Mark Johnson said Saturday, it just might be the Griffons time.

A few additional thoughts to close:

--- I think Fort Hays' contingent matched Western's for numbers. I really thought St. Joseph would travel better for a weekend game.

--- Tom Smith was as fired up Saturday as I've seen him in two years on the beat. He was yelling at players and officials for about 90 percent of the game, creating a spectacle almost as arresting as the contest. How he walked out of Municipal without a technical, I'll never understand. But it's obvious his players respond to that energy.

--- Dominique Thuston, absent for most of the past month, turned in his best all-around game in weeks. And it's because rather than letting 3-point attempts dictate his mood, he attacked the basket and rebounded the best I've seen all season. He actually played like a 6-foot-6 forward, and it helped Western tremendously against a team as defensively talented as Hays.

--- Much of the debate on press row in the second half centered around why coaches now use timeouts right after their players hit a big shot and seem to have momentum back on their side. Fort Hays coach Mark Johnson did it three times in the second half Saturday and ran out of timeouts with more than 2 minutes remaining. You should still be able to set up your press after a made basket, and by taking the timeout, you give the other team a chance to regroup. I understand it in the final minutes of a game, but not with 7 minutes to go. I think it helps the other team as much as your squad.

--- And finally, a return trip to PBR and a stop watch (I picture Emporia fans cringing at any reference to that device still), produced a concrete bull-riding result: 16.5 seconds for yours truly. Don't pretend you're not impressed.