Off-Topic » out. Tokoto blocked a shot early

REGINA -- The path to winning the 101st Grey Cup was years in the making for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Brendan Taman, the teams general manager. "Back in 2011, when they announced that the game was coming here, we knew that it was going to be pretty important that we had a good year and hopefully could get into it, let alone win it, so I felt some pressure obviously within for sure," Taman said Monday, less than 24 hours after the Riders won the championship. "But as a group, we built it from (head coach) Corey (Chamblin) and the staff to the players and everybody we brought in, so yeah there was some pressure." The pressure eased Sunday night when the Roughriders dominated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23. The Riders, who will be feted in a parade through Regina on Tuesday, became the third straight host team to win the CFL title. Taman, who walked into the news conference Monday holding the Grey Cup, enjoyed the moment. It was "very surreal," he said. "Its a sense of relief and redemption and sort of verifying that you can win it, eventually. Its not the easiest thing to win obviously, but its pretty gratifying," said Taman. In January, the Riders acquired veteran slotback Geroy Simon from B.C., then in free agency signed defensive ends John Chick and Canadian Ricky Foley as well as defensive back Dwight Anderson. In October, Taman gambled by acquiring rush end Alex Hall from Winnipeg. But there was one guy Taman really wanted to see raise the cup: quarterback Darian Durant. "You know, I talked to him this morning and he said Well, I already had one. I said No, you didnt. Yeah, you were part of one," said Taman. "But he got this one, and I was so happy for him because I think were as popular at times as each other, sometimes were not, so I was really happy for him." Durant won a Grey Cup with the Riders in 2007, but he was one of the backup quarterbacks at that time. Durant was the starting pivot when the Riders got to the Grey Cup in 2009 and 2010, but they lost both games. Chamblin agreed that he was excited to see Durant win. "There were a couple of guys, but the biggest one of course would be Darian, just because hes the quarterback. He does take a lot of the criticism and hes put a lot on his shoulders over the last couple of years, so it was very good to see him get that cup," Chamblin said Monday. Chamblin said the fans also played a major role. "The biggest thing right now, I can just tell you that stands out in my mind, was the crowd (Sunday) night and being on the stage and seeing all the green," said Chamblin. "When people say the stage was set, it was actually the stage was set and I think that was the biggest part of the celebration. There were some who watched it on TV, but it was surreal to be in that stadium last night." 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The Tar Heels (5-2) have been talented enough to defeat the top-ranked Spartans and then-No. 3 Louisville this season, but theyve also lost to Belmont and UAB. "You cant tell in college basketball whats going to happen," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "At one point, we had three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior on the court." Michigan State (7-1) fell to an unranked nonconference team at home for the first time in more than a decade. The Tar Heels took control from the start, never trailed and used a 12-1 run to take a 65-52 lead with 6:02 left. "Michigan State did not want it that much more than we did," Williams said. Kennedy Meeks scored 15 points for North Carolina and Brice Johnson had 14. Marcus Paige and Nate Britt added 13 apiece. Gary Harris had 17 points and Keith Appling scored 13, but both Michigan State guards missed 10 of 15 shots. Adreian Payne had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Spartans, whose last loss at home against an unranked nonconference team was Toledo on Dec. 30, 2002. The Tar Heels beat a No. 1 team for the first time since March 4, 2006, at Duke, and they have a nation-high 13 wins over top-ranked teams. Theyve won seven straight against the Spartans, including in the 2009 NCAA fiinal.dddddddddddd Tokoto has taken advantage of an expanded role while P.J. Hairston and Leslie McDonald sit out because of NCAA eligibility concerns. The 6-foot-5 Tokoto, who is from Wisconsin, made some friends and family members in the stands at the Breslin Center happy while green-and-white clad fans didnt have much to get excited about. Tokoto blocked a shot early in the second half, got to a loose ball and threw it to Appling -- while the Spartans player was standing out of bounds -- and made three straight shots later in the half to help the Tar Heels pull away. "J.P. was really active," Williams said. "He did a lot of things." Michigan State pulled into a 32-all tie at halftime after an awful start, struggling to take care of the ball or make shots. The Tar Heels scored the first six points of the game and led 16-4 while holding the Spartans to 1-of-7 shooting with four turnovers. On the bench, North Carolina freshman Isaiah Hicks implored his teammates to keep playing and avoid looking at the scoreboard. The Tar Heels seemed to do that, building a 20-6 lead midway through the first half as Michigan State missed 9 of 11 shots and turned the ball over six times. The Spartans got a scare later in the half when Appling landed hard on his right hip after defending a shot. He hobbled off the court, but was able to return to action before halftime. Michigan State outscored the Tar Heels 13-2 over the last several minutes of the first half. ' ' '