Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 1, 1991                   TAG: 9102010235
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

METRO TOURNAMENT TO BE BLACKED OUT ON REGIONAL TV

Tournament director Danny Monk, associate athletic director at Virginia Tech, said Thursday that telecasts of the first six games of the '91 Metro at the Roanoke Civic Center will be blacked out locally.

The reason for the blackout is lagging ticket sales. Fewer than 5,000 of the 9,348 tickets available for the March 7-9 tournament have been sold.

According to the Metro men's basketball tournament guidelines, the host university can impose a TV blackout extending in a 100-mile radius from the tournament site for the first two days of the tournament.

The championship game, scheduled March 9 at 7 p.m., cannot be blacked out, according to conference rules.

Raycom Sports of Charlotte, N.C., the Metro's syndicator, will televise the tournament. WSLS (Channel 10) has been scheduled to show the semifinals and championship game.

The decision to black out can be reversed if the tournament sells out before the first round of the event, Monk said.

The 16th annual Metro tournament has been plagued by the defections of four member schools from the league and poor play by Louisville, which traditionally has been one of the conference tournament's best supporters. The Cardinals, who have won or shared 10 Metro regular-season titles, are in last place. They have never finished lower than a fourth-place tie in the eight-team conference.

A Metro tournament ticket is priced at $87 for seven games. Tickets are available at the Roanoke Civic Center box office and at Virginia Tech's ticket office at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg.