Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 3, 1991 TAG: 9103030236
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Troy Johnson made a layup with four seconds left to give the Patriots a 52-51 victory against William Fleming at the Salem Civic Center. In winning, PH rallied from deficits of 14 and seven points.
Both teams will play in the Group AAA Northwestern Region tournament and will be host to first-round games in a doubleheader Tuesday night at the Salem Civic Center. PH (19-4) will play Woodbridge at 7 and Fleming (15-7) will meet Albemarle County at 8:30.
The Patriots led only twice against Fleming. The first time was when Johnson nailed a 3-point shot from the side to make it 50-49 with 1:15 left. David Williams made two free throws to put Fleming back on top with 51 seconds left, then PH's Troy Manns missed a layup with 20 seconds left.
The Patriots quickly fouled Tee Jennings, who missed the one-and-one with Monty Anderson rebounding. He whipped the ball to Manns, who fired to Johnson for the layup.
"I had to make up for that missed layup," said Manns, who had eight assists. "When I looked up, there were only seconds left. I looked for Tim [Basham], but he wasn't open. Then I saw Troy and threw it to him as hard as I could."
"Tee was checking me, but I guess he thought I'd shoot a 3," Johnson said. "I just took off at halfcourt and Troy got me the ball."
That was the play that won the game, but it was Basham who rallied the Patriots. Down 42-38 with 5:25 left, PH called a timeout that was nearly a disaster. Basham cut a hand when he sat down on a chair. Without Basham, the Patriots fell behind 47-40, but the 6-foot-5 sophomore came back with 3:43 left.
First, he was fouled and, with his bandaged hand, made two free throws. After Fleming's Terrell Milam, who had a game-high 18, made a short jumper, Basham came back with a long 3-point goal to make it 49-45. Then Basham stole the ball and fed to Manns for a layup that cut Fleming's lead to two with 1:46 left, setting up Johnson's 3-point shot.
Basham's surge, though, was the spark. "We weren't playing well. Someone had to step up and get us going. When I shot that free throw, I really didn't think about the bandage," Basham said.
Fleming spread its offense and chose the opportunities to shoot. The Colonels scored the first six points and led 28-14 early in the third quarter after Champ Hubbard's layup. But PH pressed and rallied. Johnson made a 3-point shot off a set play to end the third quarter and the Patriots were down 38-36.
Twice, PH had chances to tie or go ahead early in the fourth quarter. Basham and Manns both missed shots and Fleming started pulling ahead again.
"They're a good club and we played very well," disappointed Fleming coach Burrall Paye said. "We were always attacking [the basket], but we were looking for just good shots."
Fleming took only 36 shots, making 16 for 44.4 percent. The Patriots went 19-of-45 (42.2 percent) and showed the affects of not being able to get the Colonels in a transition game. see microfilm for box score
by CNB