Pirate Galaxy » had looked as if defeat was inevitable for

DALLAS -- SMU coach Tim Jankovich watched the Mustangs run out to a 32-point lead in the first half against Stanford and couldnt help but take stock of his team in his first year replacing Hall of Famer Larry Brown.Sterling Brown scored 16 points and SMU rolled to a 72-49 win over the Cardinal on Monday night for a 22nd consecutive non-conference home victory. More notably from Jankovichs perspective, it was the fifth straight win -- and most impressive -- since dropping a pair on the road at Southern California and Boise State.Were certainly far more toward the team that I want us to be than we were three weeks ago or so, Jankovich said. What Im picturing and what I feel like were capable, I think weve got a lot of growth potential left. And I am very excited about that.Duke transfer Semi Ojeleye had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Mustangs (9-3), who shot 59 percent to 21 percent in the first half for the Cardinal while taking leads of 12-0, 30-7 and 44-12.Reid Travis, the leading scorer for Stanford (7-4), didnt get a shot in the first half, when Cardinal starters scored one point. He scored all 10 of his points in the second half, while Marcus Sheffield led Stanford with 13 points.Its hard to get the ball inside when the other team doesnt want it to be there, Stanford coach Jerod Haase said. We took the easy route and werent able to get him touches and thats why he didnt get any shots.Shake Milton had 11 points and a career-high nine assists, four on alley-oop dunks. Three were to Jarrey Foster, and the other Ben Moore, who had four of SMUs seven blocks, one off its season high. Fosters second alley-oop made it 44-12 with 5:15 left in the first half.We were knocking down shots here and there and just moving the ball, playing unselfishly, Foster said. I would say that was probably one of the best halves weve played, a lot of energy.The Mustangs, who are 40-3 at home since the start of the 2014-15 season, had a sluggish second half, especially compared to the first, shooting 42 percent and getting outscored 30-24.In the second half, its not like they were playing the same way either, Haase said. Its really hard to gauge.WHERES MOORE?Moore scored all 10 of his points before leaving in the first half with a cut on his lip that required stitches. He was limited to 10 minutes after halftime, but still had a game-high nine rebounds. Its not a lot of fun when Ben Moore is in the dressing room ... getting stitched up and you just keep looking down the bench, going `Is he going to come back or not? Jankovich said.BIG PICTUREStanford: It was a reality check less than two weeks before the Pac-12 opener, with the Cardinal shooting 21 percent in the first half while falling behind by 20 points in less than 9 minutes. Stanford was much more competitive in the first half of a loss at No. 3 Kansas.SMU: A blowout loss to Michigan, followed soon after by the USC and Boise losses, dropped the Mustangs from Top 25 consideration. But they might start getting votes if anyone notices the huge first-half lead in this game.UP NEXTStanford: After wrapping up a non-conference road schedule that covered about 25,000 miles and included a trip to China, the Cardinal get a final Pac-12 tuneup at home against Idaho on Thursday. The league schedule opens at home against Arizona State (Dec. 30) and Arizona (Jan. 1).SMU: The Mustangs finish non-conference with a rare back-to-back, hosting Albany on Tuesday. The American Athletic Conference opener is Dec. 27 at Memphis---Corrects previous versions to show Stanfords record at 7-4 instead of 8-4.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 Authentic Raiders China Jerseys .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Wholesale Raiders Jerseys . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. http://www.cheapraidersjerseysauthentic.com/ .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche. Cheap Raiders Jerseys . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. The winter of 1969 was a time of great excitement in Indian cricket, especially when viewed through the eyes of a nine-year-old schoolboy in Bangalore. India were locked in a competitive and often contentious Test series against Bill Lawrys visiting Australians and were trailing 1-2 at the end of four Tests, with a chance to draw level in the final Test, in Madras.Two Bangalore boys - Erapalli Prasanna and G Viswanath - had starred in the series. Prasanna was collecting wickets by the bucketful and was instrumental in India winning the Delhi Test. Meanwhile Viswanaths dazzling century on debut in Kanpur (25 boundaries in an innings of 137) marked the moment I became a lifelong cricket fan. Adding to the buzz was the upcoming wedding of Indias captain, Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, to the glamorous movie star Sharmila Tagore.In those days, cricket tours were fairly lengthy affairs and Tests were sandwiched between three-day matches against various zonal teams. South Zone were to battle the Aussies just before Christmas in Bangalore, and my excitement mounted as I realised I was about to see the likes of Pataudi, ML Jaisimha (the captain), Prasanna, Viswanath, Syed Abid Ali and S Venkatraghavan, not to mention Lawry, Ian Chappell, Keith Stackpole, Ian Redpath and Doug Walters in real life.As in many a middle-class household at the time, various family members took turns watching the match, and I ended up at the Central College grounds with my dad for the third and final day. It would prove to be quite an initiation into the world of international cricket. Nothing but a rope and a ring of uninterested policemen separated us from the players on the field. The earliest memory I have is of the Australian fast bowler Laurie Maynes giant frame as he fielded a few yards away from me. His off-white cricket sweater hung loosely on him and looked as big as a blanket.I dont remember much at all about the first half of the days play but when the Australians began the fourth innings, things began to heat up rather rapidly. It seemed that just about every other over the crowd would unleash a deafening roar as Prasanna, with huge sideburns, upturned collar and shirt buttons left rakishly open, sent yet another Aussie batsman back to the pavilion. (When I checked the scorecard to write this piece, I realised I was not imagining the figures at all. At one point, the Australians were an incredible eight wickets down for 53 runs, chasing 200. Prasanna took six wickets for 11 runs off his 14 overs, ten of which were maidens.)I remember the excitement mounting to a frenzy as a South Zone victory neared. And then the mood began to turn ugly. From what I could see, two lanky batsmen in their green felt caps - Lawry and John Gleeson, one left-handed and the other right-handed - were sticking out their front pads and blocking most balls. Every time they did this, there would be a loud appeal from the fielders and, with far greater ferocity, from the crowd. For reasons that escaped me theen and now, the umpires turned down every one of the appeals.dddddddddddd.South Zones bowling attack that day had two offies (Prasanna and Venkat) and two leggies (Bhagwath Chandrasekhar and VV Kumar) who between them bowled 39 overs. Even granting that lbws were a bit harder to get for spinners in that era, the fact that it was this combination of bowlers on show makes the events of that day quite inexplicable, especially as the batsmen were rarely trying to play the ball.As the sun began to go down, and as Lawry and Gleeson dug firmly in, the crowd around me became more and more angry. Boos were mixed in with choice Kannada and English abuses directed at the batsmen and the umpires. The genial gentlemen of the morning, who had been joking around and happily sharing lunches and drinks with one another, were now apoplectic with rage and frustration. I huddled a bit closer to my dad (who himself was quite calm and unruffled) and was baffled by the swing in the mood. Knowing as little about the intricacies of the game as the average nine-year-old, it was all confusing and scary.Lawry and Gleeson seemed to be in some sort of sensory-deprivation chamber as they shut out the crowd and dead-batted and dead-padded over after over. (The final scorecard shows that Australia ended with 90 runs for eight wickets off 52 overs. Lawry remained unbeaten on 10 after coming to bat at No. 6, which makes Sunil Gavaskars infamous 36 not out from 60 overs in the inaugural World Cup look like an absolute gallop.)And then the first projectiles came hurtling in from the crowd. Lawry immediately walked over to the umpire to complain, which, of course, triggered a further volley of projectiles. Soon after that, the batsmen, fielders and umpires walked off - to a hail of verbal abuse and sundry rubbish thrown onto the field. I dont know if the required number of overs had been bowled or if the match was called off prematurely. In either event, Lawry and Gleeson had held out for a draw, when, at one stage, it had looked as if defeat was inevitable for the Australians.We dispiritedly trooped out of the ground and made our way to the car park to return home. Everyone looked tired, angry, hot and sweaty. It was hard to believe that it was still the same day that had dawned so cool and been filled with joyous anticipation. A few days later Australia would win the final Test, at Chepauk, and depart with a 3-1 scoreline in the bag.Looking back, my initiation into international cricket featured a few themes that would become depressingly familiar over the decades. Indias bowlers could often run through the top order but find it difficult to finish the task. Our crowds were mercurial in the speed with which they shifted from cheerful gang to scary mob. And you could never, ever, count the Aussies out until you had scored that final run or taken that last wicket. ' ' '