DeWitt Scott Named Division I All-Independent First Team

IPFW sophomore forward DeWitt Scott has been named to the Division I All-Independent Men's Basketball First-Team, in voting conducted by coaches and sports information directors.

Scott, a 6'6" sharpshooter from Chicago, Illinois, led IPFW in scoring this year by averaging 14.2 points per game.

He hit for double figures in 21 of the 28 games in which he played, seven times eclipsing the 20 point mark. He shot an outstanding 44.3 percent from behind the three-point line, which placed him 15th in the nation.

His 70 triples in a season was second best all-time in IPFW D-I history. Scott scored a season-high 26 points against Valparaiso on November 23rd and hit a career-high six triples against South Dakota State on February 22nd.

Scott was also named to the All-Newcomer Team.

IPFW juniors Tyler Best and Quintin Carouthers grabbed honorable mention honors.

Junior center Chris Daniels of Texas A&M Corpus Christi was named the Player of the Year. North Dakota State guard Ben Woodside was tabbed as Newcomer of the Year, and Ronnie Arrow of TAMUCC was selected as D-I Independent Coach of the Year.

Former Indiana basketball star Dane Fife became the nation's youngest Division I coach when he was hired by Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne on Thursday.

Fife, 25, was a catalyst on the Hoosiers' Final Four team that lost to Maryland in the 2002 NCAA championship game.

"Dane brings a great tradition of basketball coaching experience," IPFW athletic director Mark Pope said in a statement. "In short, he is a great fit for IPFW at this stage of our development."

Fife takes over a program that has struggled badly since getting approval to move up from Division II in fall 2000.

Coach Doug Noll was fired in January after going 40-119 in more than five seasons with the Mastodons, including a 3-13 record last season before his dismissal. He was replaced by Joe Pechota, but the results weren't much better as IPFW finished 7-22.

Fife spent the last two seasons on Mike Davis' staff at Indiana. Last year, Fife was the Hoosiers' administrative assistant and was responsible for breaking down videotape of opponents, running basketball camps and assisting with recruiting.

"My goal has always been to become a successful college coach and to help young men reach their full potential, both on and off the court," Fife said in a statement. "IPFW men's basketball is on its way to becoming an outstanding program, and I will give everything that I have within me to bring it to the next level."

At Indiana, Fife set the career steals record (180), was chosen as the Big Ten's 2002 defensive player of the year and ranked among the school's top 20 in assists (307) and 3-pointers (99). He shot 47.8 percent from 3-point range in 2001-02, sixth in school history, and started a single-season record 37 games as a senior.

Fife was the Gary Steelheads' first-round pick in the 2002 CBA draft and started five of the 34 games in which he played. He averaged 3.4 points and one rebound per game with Gary.

Fife surpasses Virginia Commonwealth's Jeff Capel as the youngest Division I head coach. Capel is 30.

DeWitt Scott scored 19 points and IPFW sank four free throws in the last minute to edge Texas Pan-American 55-54 on Wednesday night.

The Broncs led 54-51 when Kano Edwards, who finished with 22 points, missed a layup with 1:09 left. Justin Hawkins grabbed the rebound for IPFW (10-18), and then Edwards fouled Tyler Best.

Best sank two free throws to bring the Mastodons within one.

Colin Lien missed a bucket at the other end and Dexter Shankle fouled Scott DeWitt, who made two more free throws with 34 seconds remaining to make it 55-54.

DeWitt fouled Lien with two seconds left, but Lien missed both shots.

Zach Trader, with 10, was the only other player in double figures for Texas-Pan American (7-23).

Pretty good NCAA basketball odds for Quintin Carouthers who had 13 for the Mastodons.

Cedric Smith scored 25 points and Chris Daniels had 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead Texas A&M Corpus Christi to a 79-64 victory over Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne on Wednesday.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (17-8) used a 10-point first-half run to build at 13-point on a shot by Daniels with 10:06 left before halftime.

The Mastodons (7-17) closed within a point twice in the first half, the last time when Brad Pompey's 3-pointer brought the game to 27-26.

A layup by Smith finished the half for the Islanders, 35-29 at halftime score.

The Islanders shot 56 percent during the second in building the double-digit lead over IPFW, which shot just 30 percent after halftime.

Pompey was the top scorer for IPFW with 23 points, followed by D.J. Posley with 19.

Andre Smith recorded his fifth double-double of the basketball season Saturday to lead North Dakota State to a 71-59 victory over Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne.

Smith had 20 points and 14 rebounds forthe Bison (13-10), who led 35-28 at the half and coasted to the win at Bison Sports Arena.

The game featured just one tie and one lead change. IPFW's largest lead was three points less than one minute into the game. But the Bison took the lead for good on Smith's basket with 18:16 left.

Ben Woodside, who had seven assists, drained three 3-pointers and finished with 19 points for NDSU. Brett Winkelman added 13 points, increasing his basketball odds.

IPFW (6-15) got 20 points from Brad Pompey and 18 points from Quintin Carouthers.