Baston dunk sneaks Blue past Titans

DETROIT - A wild, mistake-filled game ended with a wild, mistake-filled finish yesterday as Michigan pulled out a stunning 54-53 victory over Detroit, leaving 5,612 at Cobo Arena surprised and, for the most part, disappointed.

In the game's final 3:25, this happened for Michigan: Louis Bullock took a charge, Travis Conlan turned the ball over, Robert Traylor took a charge and Bullock turned the ball over (note the lack of scoring, or even shooting). But it wasn't until there were about 15 seconds left that Detroit's Brian Anderson converted a lay-up to give the Titans a 53-52 lead, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

But after Michigan called timeout with 13.3 seconds left - then somehow came back onto the court with 15.4 seconds left, thanks to a malfunctioning game clock, a confused clock operator and the decision of the three officials - Traylor flicked a pass under the hoop to Maceo Baston, who spun in a lay-up while getting fouled to give Michigan a 54-53 lead with just one-tenth of a second left in the game.

Baston missed the ensuing free throw without hitting the rim - a violation that allows the defending team to take the ball out of bounds with no clock runoff. But Detroit's desperation court-length pass was knocked away, and the game ended in a Michigan victory.

"We've got to do a better job of executing at the end," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "The environment we were in made it difficult. But we executed best when the game was on the line."

Fittingly, Detroit's desperation pass was deflected away by Travis Conlan, who made his first appearance for Michigan since injuring his wrist dec. 3 against Athletes in Action. Conlan, who has often been called Michigan's smartest floor leader, played the game with his right wrist in a soft cast - and deflected the final pass with his left fist.

Detroit kept the game close by pressuring Michigan into 27 turnovers, and although the Wolverines held the lead for most of the game, they led by just a point, 50-49, as the game entered the final six minutes.

With just more than five minutes to play, Conlan found Baston inside, but Detroit's defense didn't, and a thunderous dunk shook the basket's supports and gave the Wolverines a 52-49 lead. After a pair of Detroit free throws cut the lead to one, neither team could score until the game's final 15 seconds.

Conlan was expected to be out of action until early or mid-December, but the senior checked in with 8:41 left in the first half. He had a plaster cast removed from his right wrist on Tuesday.

It took exactly 46 seconds for Conlan to record his first steal of the season, as he swiped a Detroit pass with the Wolverines playing a 3-2 zone. He finished the game with two points, two steals and four turnovers.

Bullock paced the Wolverines with 16 points. Baston had 15 and seven boards, and Jerod Ward scored 12 points. The Titans were led by Alexander's 15 points and 11 rebounds.

"We should have won the game," Detroit coach Perry Watson said. "We were our own worst enemy."

Early in the second half, the Wolverines appeared to be asserting themselves after Baston dunked and then split a pair of free throws on back-to-back possessions to make the score 38-33. But Detroit bounced back with six quick points (aided by two equally-quick Michigan turnovers) to take a 39-38 lead with 13:10 remaining in the game.

Bullock steadied the ship, hitting a pair of jumpers to regain the lead for Michigan, and after a few free throws and a 3-pointer by Jerod ward, Michigan moved its lead to 48-43 with less than eight minutes remaining.

Detroit's pressure defense gave Michigan fits throughout the first half, and the Wolverines' 10 turnovers before halftime helped to keep the score close.

12-01-97