Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 8, 1991 TAG: 9102080263
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN SMALLWOOD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Whatever the cause, Roanoke College overcame one of its worse halves to play 20 minutes of its best basketball and pick up a 77-66 victory over Bridgewater in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference men's game Thursday night at the Bast Center.
After shooting 39.4 percent and trailing 33-29 at halftime, Roanoke (10-11 overall, 4-9 in the ODAC) shot 73.1 percent (19-for-26) in the second half.
The Maroons held Bridgewater (11-12, 5-10) to 35.9 percent shooting for the final 20 minutes and outrebounded the Eagles 20-12.
"That was one of our better halves all season," said Roanoke coach Page Moir. "We've come off two emotional losses. That was a nice recovery."
The transformation was apparent in virtually every Maroon.
In the second half, junior center Derek Otten had 16 of his 21 points and six of his 10 rebounds and sophomore forward Rick Becker scored 12 of his 14 points and pulled down eight of his 10 rebounds. Senior guard Ron Pendleton, who had scored 41 points in Roanoke's past two games, was limited to five points, but all came over the final 20 minutes, as did 10 of his 13 assists.
"At the half, coach said to us, `If you don't want to play, then don't do it,' " said Becker. "He challenged our pride. We took it on ourselves to play better."
The Maroons were lost for the first 11 minutes of the game as Bridgewater rushed to a 19-9 lead. Moir then replaced his starters - Becker, Otten, Pendleton and seniors Robert Lineburg and Cary Gentry - with freshmen Hilary Scott, Kevin Martin and Mike Thorton, sophomore Bill Cross and senior Rodney Spickard.
That group started a Roanoke surge over the final nine minutes that cut the Eagles' led to four points by halftime.
To start the second half, Moir left Scott, who finished with 10 points, in the lineup for Gentry and switched Pendleton from shooting to point guard.
With Pendleton at the controls, the Maroons offense eased into gear.
Becker made a 17-footer to pull Roanoke to 33-31, and after a Bridgewater miss, Pendleton scored a transition layup off an outlet pass from Lineburg. The teams traded baskets, then Becker gave Roanoke its first lead when he rattled in a jumper at 15:19.
Over the next seven minutes, Otten and Lineburg each scored six points during an 11-7 run that put the Maroons up 58-52.
Pressure defense forced a shot-clock violation by Bridgewater, and Otten followed with a layup. Pendleton's 3-point field goal pushed the Roanoke lead to 63-52 with seven minutes remaining.
The Maroons stretched the lead to 19 points.
"Ron gave us a heck of a lift at point guard," said Lineburg. "He pushed it up hard and made the guys around him better. He has great court awareness.
"We've been struggling to find a right combination. You'd have to go back to December to find a half where we played that well. We were due."
BRIDGEWATER MW FGFTRAFPT Kumper 3-40-00208Ihle 2-30-01205Edwards 0-20-00300Watson 2-51-27215Berry 7-120-003117Hodge 0-00-01010Burke 2-100-03124Rush 12-213-443227Briley 0-30-00010Gilliece 0-20-00000Totals 28-624-62516866 ROANOKE MW FGFTRAFPTWilliams 0-10-00010Spickard 2-50-03006Gentry 0-00-00000Jones 0-00-00010Scott 5-60-014110Martin 0-20-01100Lineburg 4-112-243110Faulkner 0-00-00000Becker 5-84-4100114Pendleton 2-60-031315Otten 9-123-3100221Swartz 2-20-00114Cross 3-51-11017Murphy 0-10-02010Totals 32-5910-1035221177Rebounds include team rebounds Score by periods: Bridgewater33-33-66 Roanoke29-48-77
Three-point goals - Bridgewater: Kumper 2-3, Ihle 1-2, Berry 3-6, Burke 0-1, Briley 0-2, Gilliece 0-2, Totals 6-16. Roanoke: Williams 0-1, Spickard 2-4, Lineburg 0-1, Becker 0-1, Pendleton 1-4, Totals 3-11.
Turnovers - Bridgewater 12 (Watson 5); Roanoke 13 (Gentry 3). Blocked shots - Bridgewater 3 (Watson 2); Roanoke 7 (Becker 3). Steals - Bridgewater 7 (Rush 3); Roanoke 8 (Lineburg 4).
Technical fouls - Watson. Attendance - 638.
by CNB