Florida A&M Faces Lehigh in NCAA Play-In

<br> <br>DAYTON, Ohio (AP) _ Florida A&M, despite a 1-10 start and a losing record, is a win away from the main bracket and a chance to play top-seeded Kentucky in the NCAA tournament. <br><br>At 14-16,

Tuesday, March 16th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) _ Florida A&M, despite a 1-10 start and a losing record, is a win away from the main bracket and a chance to play top-seeded Kentucky in the NCAA tournament.

At 14-16, the Rattlers are the only team in the tourney with a losing record, but some of those losses came against powers Florida, North Carolina State and Marquette.

``We belong here. I don't care what our record is,'' coach Mike Gillespie said. ``We did play extremely well this year at Marquette, at Georgia. I thought we played very well against Florida.''

Florida A&M faces Lehigh (20-10) in Tuesday's play-in game to determine the 16th-seeded team in the St. Louis Regional. The winner will play Kentucky on Friday in Columbus.

Florida A&M reached the tournament by beating Coppin State 58-51 Saturday to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship. The Rattlers last appeared in the NCAA tournament in 1999.

``We're in the tournament, and this is as good as it gets for us,'' Gillespie said. ``It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me right now. We certainly would like to be playing Friday against Kentucky.''

Lehigh hasn't played in the NCAA tournament for 16 years.

The Bethlehem, Pa., school defeated American 59-57 Sunday to win the Patriot League. Freshman guard Jose Olivero hit a leaning jumper with 3.9 seconds remaining to seal the win.

``I'm just so proud of these guys and what they were able to accomplish,'' Lehigh coach Billy Taylor said. ``This team didn't get much credit at any point during the year. People have looked past us, wrote us off, said we weren't good enough, weren't tough enough. But this team stayed together.''

Taylor said Florida A&M brings strong guard play and outside shooting.

``We've got to make sure we're out on their perimeter shooters,'' he said. ``We have to make sure we don't give them clean looks. If we do, it will be a long night for us.''

Gillespie said Lehigh plays tough defense and gets a lot of rebounds.

``We are not a great rebounding team,'' he said. ``We're going to run the ball. We're going to shoot 3s. We're going to press. We're going to really try to force the tempo of the game.''

Florida A&M is led by Terrence Woods, a transfer from Tennessee who averages 21 points per game. He made 129 3-point shots this season, most in the nation.

Woods bruised his thigh bruise during Saturday's game against Coppin State while running through a screen. He did not practice Monday and is questionable for Tuesday's game, Gillespie said.

``I think there's a chance he can play,'' Gillespie said. ``But until I see Terrence run up and down and shoot the ball in our closed workouts, I really can't tell you.''

However, he said if Woods can't play, the Rattlers will still bring a strong team to the floor.

``I have excellent guards who can all dribble-drive the ball and make baskets,'' he said.

Woods plans on playing.

``Nothing's going to keep me away from playing this game unless the Good Man comes to take me tonight,'' Woods said.