Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 2, 1991 TAG: 9102020358
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: M.J. DOUGHERTY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
But the Blue Demons turned things around quickly, moving ahead of Radford in the closing seconds of the first quarter and going on to record their first New River District victory of the season, 81-69.
Christiansburg (8-6 overall, 1-2 New River) and Radford (7-9, 1-2) are tied with Carroll County for second place in the New River, two games behind Blacksburg.
"The last couple of weeks, things haven't been going well," junior Eddie Bentley said. "Tonight, we got it all together. It took us a couple of minutes, then we started playing pretty good and we were able to run [our offense] a lot."
Three minutes into the game, it appeared the Blue Demons were in for another long night. Radford streaked to a 12-5 lead behind two 3-pointers by Chad Phillips, who finished with a game-high 21 points.
The Bobcats' success was short-lived, however. Christiansburg scored seven straight points to make it 12-12.
Tied again at 14 in the closing seconds of the first quarter, Bentley made a three-point shot from the left wing. They were the most important of his team-high 17 points because they gave the Demons a 17-14 advantage at the end of the quarter.
"They play good defense," said forward John Porter, who added 14 points for the Demons. "We had to figure things out and get in the flow. Once we got into the flow, the offense worked well."
The second quarter was more of the same for Christiansburg. A 3-pointer by Willie Sabo with 2:21 left in the half gave the Demons their largest lead of the first half - 31-18. That capped a 10 1/2-minute stretch in which Christiansburg outscored Radford 26-6.
During the run, the Bobcats' forte - the 3-point shot - deserted them. They missed four straight long-range shots and made just two of 16 for the game as they fell further and further behind.
"They did a outstanding job tonight, on both ends of the floor," Radford coach Buddy Martin said of the Demons.
Christiansburg expanded its lead to 18 points by the end of the third quarter. That left Radford with only one option: to foul. And that's what the Bobcats did in the fourth quarter - 17 times.
The Blue Demons, despite shooting 62 percent from the free-throw line for the season, made 20 of 25 in the fourth to prevent Radford from getting closer than eight points.
Everybody got into the act for Christiansburg as Shon McMillian and JoJo Gillenwater each went 5-of-6 from the line, Bentley 4-of-5, Porter and Steve Gregory 2-of-2, and Scott Lucas 2-of-4.
Lucas put the game out of reach with easy layups on back-to-back possessions with less than two minutes to go, increasing the Demons' lead from eight to 12 points.
"They had everyone down [in the backcourt]; they had no safety," said Lucas, who ended up with 16 points. "All I had to do was flash for the ball and go long. I was wide open."
CHRISTIANSBURG (81)
Porter 5 4-5 14, Bentley 6 4-5 17, Gregory 5 2-2 12, Lucas 5 5-8 16, McMillan 0 5-6 5, Gillenwater 1 5-6 8, Sabo 4 0-0 9, Smith 0 0-3 0. Hardy 0 0-0 0, Ruble 0 0-0 0, Collins 0 0-0 0, Barnes 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 25-35 81. RADFORD (69)
Lineburg 2 0-1 4, Delany 1 0-1 2, Canaday 7 0-0 14, Krupey 2 0-0 4, Gravley 2 3-4 7, Phillips 5 8-12 21, Pierson 3 5-6 14, Saunders 1 1-1 3. Totals 23 17-25 69. Christiansburg 17181828-81 Radford 1412934-69 Three-point goals: Bentley, Lucas, Gillenwater, Sabo, Phillips 3, Pierson 3. Team fouls: Christiansburg 16, Radford 27. Fouled out: Saunders, McMillian. JV: 59-38, Radford.
by CNB