Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 19, 1992 TAG: 9202190277
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
CAVALIERS NIP SALEM 66-65
It's easy to tell the veteran team from the young squad.One is fighting for a district championship; the other is trying for a winning record.
Or, in the case of Lord Botetourt and Salem, the difference is in winning and losing one-point games.
The Cavaliers held off the Spartans 66-65 Tuesday at Salem to set up a Blue Ridge District first-place showdown in their regular-season home finale against Northside on Friday.
Northside holds a one-game edge on Botetourt by virtue of a 59-57 victory over the Cavaliers at home last month.
Tuesday night's game was Botetourt's third one-point victory in the Blue Ridge and the third time the Spartans have lost a basketball game by that margin in the district.
That all would be different if Salem's Corey Epperly, who matched his season high of 20 points, would have hit a last-second shot. That would have given Northside the title. His 10-footer rolled over the rim and he got the rebound, only to see another shot miss as the game ended.
"I thought the first one had the better chance to go in," said Lord Botetourt guard Bobby Prince, who had a game-high 24 points, seven assists, made nine consecutive free throws and refused to let the Cavaliers (13-6 overall, 6-1 Blue Ridge) lose.
"I quit thinking that shots would go in because every time [in the past] when I thought they would go in, they did," Prince said.
The game was over when Botetourt center Jeff Cronise snared the rebound of Epperly's second miss.
"I didn't realize the game was over, but I knew the clock was pretty low," Cronise said.
Salem coach Len Mosser said: "I thought Corey was going to hit that one. It was a good shot that didn't go in, but it's one he hits consistently and we wanted him to take it."
Botetourt couldn't shake the Spartans (9-9, 2-5), although the Cavaliers were ahead from midway through the first quarter to the end. Salem got its boost from 6-foot-4 junior center Josh Pugh, who scored 22 points. He has scored more than 20 points in 11 straight games.
Pugh missed the front end of four one-and-one free-throw opportunties in the fourth quarter to hurt the Spartans. However, he was magnificent in the third quarter, scoring 10 points and helping the Spartans rally from a 49-38 deficit to finish only four points down going into the final quarter.
Then Botetourt took a 60-50 lead and Salem started making 3-point shots. Mark Byington, Epperly and Tra Wilson all hit treys to bring the Spartans back. Wilson's made it 64-63, Botetourt, with 1:34 left, but Prince was fouled and hit both shots to make it 66-63.
Prince then fouled Pugh.
"I didn't do that on purpose," Prince said. "You never want to foul anyone when you're ahead."
Pugh missed, but Byington rebounded and his follow shot with 35 seconds left made it a one-point game.
The Spartans sent Derek Loyd to the line with 16 seconds left as Byington fouled out. Loyd missed, Carlos Terry rebounded for Salem and got the ball to Epperly for the last shots.
Craig Layman added 19 points for Botetourt with some nice assists from Prince.
"We were moving Bobby, trying to get some cuts for him. We figured we might be a little quicker beating them to the blocks," Lord Botetourt coach Don Meredith said of posting up his playmaking guard.
Both teams shot well; Botetourt made 23 of 45 from the floor, while Salem was 26-of-56. Pugh had a game-high 14 rebounds, but the teams each had 32 rebounds. \
see microfilm for box score