Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 12, 1991 TAG: 9102120112
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Staff report
DATELINE: CULLOWHEE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
It was the first conference win at home for Western Carolina (11-12 overall, 3-7 SC). VMI is 9-14, 4-7.
VMI led 22-10 with 11:14 left in the first half behind Greg Fittz, who scored the first 11 points for the Keydets. WCU slowly got back into it, and Bobby Getter's 3-pointer at the buzzer left the Catamounts down 34-33 at the half.
VMI did not score in the first 7:19 of the second half, missing seven shots from the field. By the time Fittz made a turn-around jumper in the lane at 12:41, the Keydets were trailing 44-36.
Western Carolina built its lead to 52-37 with 9:47 remaining and still led 60-47 with 6:36 left in the game. The Keydets then scored eight in a row to cut their deficit to five with 4:02 left.
B.J. Thompson made two free throws and a layup to give WCU a 64-55 lead, and the Keydets never got closer than seven.
"We never got into our offense. We must do a better job screening. We made some terrible decisions. We just didn't see the options available," VMI coach Joe Cantafio said.
"I am extremely disappointed in our team. We made a decent run late in the second half, but it just wasn't enough."
Fittz was easily the bright spot for the Keydets with 24 points and seven rebounds. He made 11 of 16 shots from the field. Marty Chadwick added 10 points.
Carey Rich pumped in 18 points and had six assists for Western Carolina. Eric Dailey added 15 points, Robert Gaines 13 and Terry Boyd 10.
The Keydets were outrebounded 54-31.
VMI MPFGFTRAFPT Chadwick 313-62-425310Spriggs 161-20-00312Covington 291-70-04442K. Johnson 113-41-22048Perry 202-70-03305Banks 100-31-20211Penn 262-113-36138Preston 201-52-22044Tegtmeyer 50-10-02000Fittz 2911-161-371424Goodman 30-00-00010Totals 20024-6210-1631192564 W. CAROLINA MPFGFTRAFPT Dailey 306-83-5133315Rich 366-136-956018Carson 40-12-31202Darham 20-00-00010Gaines 355-123-381213Thompson 133-32-26108Boyd 353-162-2121310Thurwalker 312-85-85139Getter 52-20-00015Turner 90-10-22020Totals 20027-6423-3454151580 Rebounds include team rebounds Score by periods: VMI34-30-64 W. Carolina33-47-80
Three-point goals - VMI: Chadwick 2-5, Spriggs 0-1, Covington 0-2, K. Johnson 1-1, Perry 1-4, Banks 0-2, Penn 1-6, Fittz 1-3, Tota 6-24. Western Carolina: Carson 0-1, Gaines 0-3, Boyd 2-5, Getter 1-1, Total 3-10.
Turnovers - VMI 17 (Chadwick, Perry 4); Western Carolina 20 (Thompson 5). Blocked shots - VMI 5 (Preston, Fittz 2); Western Carolina 1 (Turner). Steals - VMI 9 (Spriggs, Covington, Penn 2); Western Caorlina 7 (Rich, Gaines 2).
Technical fouls - None. Officials - Rife, Jag, Lester. Attendance - 1,210.
by CNB