Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 1, 1992 TAG: 9203010176
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
John Rivers didn't want to experience a dubious career-first, and Virginia Tech didn't want to be the last stamp on UNC Charlotte's passport to the NCAA Tournament.
So the Hokies turned that motivation into a 73-65 upset of UNCC on Saturday before 6,472 at Cassell Coliseum, the second-largest home basketball crowd this year at the 9,971-capacity arena.
With at least three games left, Tech avoided what would have been its first single-digit victory season since 1954-55.
The Hokies are 47-66 in Rivers' tenure but had won their final home game in his first three years. On Senior Day, Rivers helped protect that streak by getting 10 rebounds and scoring 17 points - including four in the last minute.
"It was time for me to come out of the hole, come out of the slump I was in," Rivers said.
Tech's other senior, Erik Wilson, had no small part in Saturday's goings-on. He had 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
The 49ers (18-8 overall, 5-5 in the Metro Conference) figured their 19th win would all but guarantee them an NCAA at-large bid; Rivers and his teammates, meanwhile, were convinced that UNCC considered them easy marks.
Who stirred that pot? An unassuming guy named Bobby Hussey, who happened to pass through Charlotte the other day, read a newspaper story about UNCC's NCAA chances and sort of took some liberties.
"Coach Hussey came to us at halftime and told us those guys were talking about [the NCAA Tournament]," Wilson said. "I don't know if they meant for Coach Hussey to hear that."
Well, maybe he heard something and maybe he didn't. But Hussey, 20 years a college coach, is wise.
"You use everything you can," Hussey said, smiling. "Most of it came out of my head."
UNCC's Henry Williams said the 49ers didn't think Tech (10-15, 3-8) was a walkover, but the Hokies had their ammunition. Wilson and Rivers were beating their chests in the locker room afterward. The Hokies finished 8-4 at home this year, including wins over upper-division Metro teams Tulane and UNCC.
"As most people know, it's not easy to come to Cassell and beat us," Rivers said.
Added Wilson:
"When you go to somebody else's house, you don't just take over."
Williams tried but couldn't repeat what he did to Tech in January. Late in that game, he hit two long 3-pointers to put away the Hokies.
But Tech's triangle-and-two defense, designed to chase Williams and his backcourt partner, helped hold the All-Metro candidate to nine points until 5 1/2 minutes remained.
"Our poise tonight wasn't what it should've been to really win," said Williams, who had seven points in the last 5:36. "[Tech's defense] was not a surprise. The only deal is, we need to attack it consistently the way we did in the first seven or eight minutes."
With 7:58 left in the first half, the 49ers led 25-14. Between a television timeout at that point and the next one with 3:54 left, Tech cut the lead to 27-21, which coach Bill Foster said was a key stretch.
The Hokies closed to 31-29 at halftime, then fell behind by seven in the second half before outscoring UNCC 11-2 to take a 50-46 lead with 9:17 left. Wilson had two points, Rivers four and Steve Hall five in the stretch.
The Hokies never trailed again, but it got tight.
Two free throws by 49er Daryl DeVaull made it 62-61 Tech with 2:37 left, but Wilson's dunk after he spun away from UNCC's Rodney Odom pushed the lead to three.
Then Williams swished a 3-pointer to tie it at 64 with 2:02 to go. Wilson made one of two free throws with 1:32 left, then DeVaull missed the front end of a one-and-one. Rivers' jumper from the right side made it 67-64 Tech with 57 seconds left, and Cedric Broadhurst countered with a free throw for the 49ers.
Four straight free throws, two each by Corey Jackson and Rivers, sealed it.
UNCC coach Jeff Mullins questioned some officials' calls - including a no-call on Jay Purcell when he lowered his shoulder and knocked over Bershuan Thompson, then passed to Wilson for a three-point play with 6:37 left - but he was upset with his team, too.
"My biggest concern was our amount of turnovers (15) against a very passive defense," Mullins said.
After an 11-0 start and a No. 17 ranking by The Associated Press in January, UNCC has gone 7-7.
Foster said he didn't cotton to the role of spoiler.
"We just wanted to have a little pride in what we did," he said. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB