The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Conference championship week continues throughout NCAA Division I basketball and several Bahamian players took part in tournaments with mixed results for their respective programmes.

In the Big 10 tournament, Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr and his Michigan State Spartans - the No.5 seed in the bracket - blew away the No.12 seed Penn State Nittany Lions in the second round.

The Spartans scored the 78-51 win over the Nittany Lions yesterday at the Verizon Center in Washington DC.

Nairn finished with nine assists and three rebounds.

It was his second highest assist total of the season following his career high 12-assist outing at home in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Nairn dished more assists than the entire Penn State roster (eight) and as a team, the Spartans finished with 19.

The Spartans are looking to capture their sixth Big Ten Tournament championship, as they are the only Big Ten team with five tournament titles.

They will advance to face the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the quarter-finals at 2:30pm this afternoon.

The Nittany Lions lost their last five conference games before defeating Nebraska in the first round of the tournament on Wednesday.

The Spartans earned a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament but their status for the NCAA Tournament remains uncertain and they will most likely have to wait until Selection Sunday to learn their fate should they not earn an automatic bid with a tournament title.

“This has been the most up-and-down season just because we’ve had a lot of young guys playing and have asked a lot from them,” Nairn said on the Spartans’ athletic website. “And if you ask me, they’re doing an unbelievable job with it because it’s not easy to play here, man, especially with the expectations and what’s expected of them by being our best players.”

Despite the fluctuations in their results, Nairn believes the Spartans will once again play their best basketball in March.

“But I think the ups and downs and all the injuries have made us come together and stick together even more. So now that we’ve gone through all that, we’re starting to play our best basketball, and it’s March, so let’s see what happens. This season has definitely made us stronger as young men, as people and definitely as basketball players.”

Nairn was awarded the Stephen G Scofes Inspirational Player Award for the third straight year when the Spartans programme hosted its annual Men’s Basketball Awards Banquet for the 2016-17 season.

After receiving the award, Nairn gave the award to teammates Eron Harris, Ben Carter and Gavin Schilling.

And in the Big 12 tournament, Dwight Coleby and the No.1 seeded Kansas Jayhawks couldn’t overcome the suspension of superstar freshman Josh Jackson and were upset 85-82 by the TCU Horned Frogs in the quarter-finals. Coleby finished with two points and two blocked shots.