31.   During the previous timeout, Thompson had told his players that they should concentrate on rebounding above all else in the closing minute, and that advice proved fortuitous.

32.   Each team committed a lane violation during crucial free-throw attempts and Felipe Lopez and Hurley each threw up air balls in the closing minutes of regulation.

33.   First, the diminutive Brazilian left back, Roberto Carlos, had to surge forward in the closing minutes, just to create something.

34.   For two straight games, they had a victory in their hands, only to see it disappear in the closing minutes, or seconds.

35.   For years, the Aggies had a reputation as a team that faltered in the closing minutes of big games.

36.   Glen Murray was slashed on the leg in the closing minute, but he stayed in the game.

37.   He and Ted Donato and Sheldon Kennedy put shorthanded pressure on the Avalanche in the closing minutes of the opening period.

38.   He had a couple of running righthanders down the lane bounce around and out in the closing minutes.

39.   He returned in the closing minute of the game.

40.   He wondered, in a team meeting, how the defense would react in the closing minutes when it had to hold a lead.