Monday, Dec. 6, 1999 | 9:41 a.m.
The buzzword of the Food Lion MVP Classic game between UNLV and Princeton on Friday night was first.
It was the first night UNLV's Danny Brotherson started the game instead of Donovan Stewart.
It was the was the first game a Rebel player got injured when Kenny Dye exited the game with 8:03 remaining in the first half with strained nerves in his right shoulder.
And it was the first time this season Princeton allowed an opponent to score more than 60 points which eventually led to its downfall.
The Rebels (5-0) survived a scare from the pesky Tigers (1-4) for a 76-66 victory at the Charlotte Coliseum to earn a date against North Carolina in the championship game Saturday night.
The Tar Heels defeated the College of Charleston, 72-54 in the night cap.
Kaspars Kambala scored 16 of his 29 points in the second half to match his career high in points and was the catalyst for UNLV's victory while Trevor Diggs chipped in 18 for the Rebels.
After Diggs hit a 3-pointer to tie the game for the third and final time at 58-58, Princeton's Ahmed El-Nokali missed a jumper on the other end.
UNLV's Mark Dickel grabbed the long rebound, then fed it to Kambala who hit an 8-foot jumper and made a free throw to put UNLV up for good.
Although he was relatively quiet in the first half, making only 3-of-5 shots, during the final stretch, Kambala shut the door on the Tigers by scoring nine points including 4-of-4 free throws. Kambala also made a career high 13-of-14 free throws.
"We were pushing the ball up the court and when you run, the first look is to attack and sometimes it was before he got into the play," UNLV head coach Bayno said of Kambala's performance in the first half. "But we made the adjustment and got it inside to him. Kas won the game."
It sure wasn't easy.
Princeton used its fabled back door move which gave the Rebels fits on defense.
The Tigers' looked so precise when making cuts away from the basketball that they looked like they could have starred in the basketball movie "Hoosiers."
In all, Princeton scored 14 of its first half points with the back door pass and 12 in the second half.
"No coach wants to play against Princeton," Bayno said. "You can't simulate what they do in practice. "You can try, but you can't do it the way they do it. I don't ever want to play them again. Ever."
Imagine how the players felt.
Chris Richardson, who played six minutes off the bench to relieve freshman Dalron Johnson on defense, had the task of chasing Princeton's Mark Rocca around.
Johnson scored 11 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Rocca scored 13.
"Thank God the game was over," Richardson said. "They're a hard team to play.
"They don't play like nobody else. Nobody. They're on their own level.
UNLV extended its six-point lead at halftime when Diggs scored six of his own points, but then went scoreless for seven minutes allowing Princeton back in the game.
Princeton took its final lead, 56-53, when Chris Young scored two of his 22 points inside. "We knew before we came into the game it was going to be a long and frustrating game, but we just didn't let down," Kambala said. "As soon as we pull away, they came back.
"It's like you're trying to pull away, but you really can't so we just thought, at least keep a little difference and you know just toughen up.
"Definitely we won the game and I was happy."
LINE-UP: Bayno said Brotherson will continue to start for the Rebels against North Carolina.
OUCH: UNC center Brian Bersticker fractured his left fifth metatarsal, the same bone he broke in the summer. He will miss Saturday's game against UNLV and will be sidelined for about 10 weeks.
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