KNIGHTS' SHOT FALLS SHORT

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

DATE: SATURDAY, January 25, 1992                   TAG: 9201250273
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: PHYLLIS A. FAIR SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
KNIGHTS' SHOT FALLS SHORT
Cave Spring was in a position to upset William Fleming on Friday night, but the Knights did not have good luck on their side.
With one second left, Cave Spring's Jason Lavinder attempted a 3-point basket, but the ball rolled off the rim as the buzzer sounded and the Colonels defeated the visiting Knights 73-72 in a Roanoke Valley District boys' basketball game.
"We deserve to win sometime along the way," Cave Spring coach Rick Crotts said. "We've played some good teams. We just can't get over the hump. It was a great game."
With 5:45 left in the game, Cave Spring was down 65-56.
The Knights (6-6 overall, 1-3 Roanoke Valley) chipped away at William Fleming's lead, pulling to 71-63. Cave Spring then went on a 9-2 run, capped by Steve Hawks' 3-pointer with seven seconds left that made it 73-72, Fleming.
William Fleming (8-4, 2-1) got the ball out of bounds and moved it up the floor when Cave Spring's Kerry Whitt fouled Jemare Crump with five seconds remaining. Whitt fouled out and finished with a season-high 25 points.
Crump, playing in his first game because of academic problems, missed the one-and-one. The Knights got the rebound and advanced the ball to midcourt, where they called a timeout with two seconds to go.
Cave Spring inbounded the ball, but the Colonels knocked it out with one second left.
The Knights got the ball to Lavinder, Timesland's leading 3-point shooter at 52.5 percent. A screen left Lavinder open to take the shot, but the ball rolled off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
"He had great pick," Crotts said. "That's what you want. It just didn't work."
The first half was close, with neither team ahead by more than three points.
The lead changed hands six times, and there were four ties until the Colonels regained the lead 30-29 on Carlos Rhodes' two free throws with 2:57 left in the half. They extended it to 36-31 with 1:30 to go.
Cave Spring scored the final four points, the last two on Lavinder's layup at the buzzer, to end the half trailing 36-35. \
see microfilm for box score

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB