It might not have been Reggie Miller's last minute heroics, butit still gave the crowd in Worthen Arena something to cheerabout.
The Indiana Pacers Randy Holcomb tipped in a game-winning shotwith the clock expiring to give them an 85-84 win over theWashington Wizards in a preseason matchup.
The Pacers were down 84-83 with 9.6 seconds left and Eddie Gillput up a jumper with 1.1 seconds left, but missed it. DavidHarrison rebounded it and tried to end the game but also missed,leaving Holcomb as the hero. It was Holcomb's only shot of thegame.
"We wanted to get a shot, we ended up getting three or fourshots so the result was good," head coach Rick Carlisle said.
Harrison, who is a rookie, played well in the second half andfinished the game with 12 points and four rebounds.
"I thought I tipped it in and it rolls out and I see Randy grabit and he goes in there and throws it back in, great play and itgot the win," Harrison said.
Last year's Most Valuable Player candidate Jermaine O'Neal didnot play due to injury and Defensive Player of the Year Ron Artestalso did not suit up because he had been at a family funeral thepast few days.
The crowd was able to see Miller for the first quarter, but thatwas it. He was perfect from the floor in the game, hitting one treyand one jumper. He also had a free throw to finish with sixpoints.
In his first game with Indiana, Stephen Jackson led the Pacerswith 19 points and seven rebounds. Jackson was acquired fromAtlanta in exchange for Al Harrington over the summer.
"He played real well and this is one of the reasons we were sointerested in trading for him," Carlisle said. "He's a guy that cando a lot of different things."
Fred Jones, who played the most minutes, also had a good gamefor the Pacers finishing with 10 points. Jeff Foster, who playedonly the first quarter, tied with Jackson for team high reboundswith seven.
While O'Neal and Artest were with the team, Jonathan Bender wasthe only one who did not make the trip, due to personal reasons.Indiana played everyone that could play at least a little bit, withmost players averaging around 20 minutes.
"I thought everyone played hard, we didn't play particularlywell at times, but to get the win with a lot of guys playing is agood sign for us," Carlisle said.
Turnovers and missed free throws plagued the Pacers throughoutthe game. They finished with 23 turnovers and missed 20 attemptsfrom the line.
"That's why the game was close. If we hadn't turned it over andmade it at the free-throw line, the game would have swung one wayor the other," Carlisle said. "For a first game it's okay, but I'mnot getting too excited - we have a lot of work to do."
The crowd of 9, 123 impressed the Pacers. Harrison said afterthe game the crowd was better then what he was used to atColorado.
"I love Ball State. This is the fist time I've been here, I'veheard a lot of good things about this town," Carlisle said. "Ithought the crowd was great and it was a really nice experience forus to be here and I hope we can be here again sometime.
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