Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 6, 1992 TAG: 9203060196
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: ANDERSON, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
The Highlanders set a scorching offensive pace early and for the most part kept it up in an 80-54 victory in the opening round of the Big South Conference Tournament on Thursday at the Civic Center of Anderson.
By the looks of things, Radford could have missed a few more shots and still won handily. Winthrop was stampeded from its offense, robbed of ball after ball, and forced to put up panicked shot after panicked shot.
Radford will advance to a 6 p.m. semifinal today against Charleston Southern, a 58-54 winner over Coastal Carolina.
The Eagles (6-22) lost their last 12 games and set a school record for defeats in a season, a melancholy sendoff for coach Steve Vacendak, who is retiring from the profession to concentrate on his duties as Winthrop athletic director. Vacendak, whose teams went 74-98 in six seasons at Winthrop, said he does not expect to coach again.
"Our guys gave us all they had," he said. "But I didn't think that we played as well as we're capable."
Radford (20-8), the tournament's top seed for the first time ever, came in still smarting from a season-ending 79-76 loss at North Carolina-Asheville, a defeat that ended an eight-game winning streak.
"That Asheville game made us really aware that our game is defense," Radford guard Brian Schmall said.
Radford coach Ron Bradley had told the team that he did not believe it had played well at all defensively against the Bulldogs.
"It woke us up," Radford guard Doug Day said.
Thursday, they responded with one of their best defensive efforts of the year, allowing the fewest points in 28 games. Winthrop also was forced into 24 turnovers, 14 of which came in the form of Radford steals.
Point guard Chris Hawkins led the Highlanders with four steals.
Winthrop became partially unglued early in the face of a Radford offensive barrage. The Highlanders hit 11 of their first 14 shots - including five 3-pointers in a row - while forging a 29-9 lead.
"We were really on at the beginning," Bradley said.
Day and Schmall had a pair of 3-pointers each in the first 11 minutes to key the surge. Day had 11 of his 19 points and Schmall 10 of his 12 in the half, and Radford led 42-29 at halftime.
Radford shot 59.1 percent in the first half, 65.2 percent in the second and finished 62.2 percent (28-of-45). Included in that total was a 9-for-14 rampage from beyond the 3-point arc (64.3 percent).
Neither the accuracy overall nor from 3-point range was the best this year for the Highlanders. Each was the second-best. Radford learned humility at the free-throw line, though, where its 15-for-32 performance was the second worst of the year.
"They're a very good shooting team and I'm impressed," said Campbell center Mark Hailey, who was about the Eagles' only positive contributor with 14 points and eight rebounds.
Radford got outrebounded 29-23, which is nothing new. Neither was its offensive balance: Stephen Barber scored 13 points in 24 minutes and Don Burgess also had 13 in the same amount of time. Burgess sank six of seven free throws.
"Ron had his team well-prepared and anybody who beats them is going to have to play exceptionally well," Vacendak said.
\ NOTE: Liberty University cheerleader Lark Alloway was examined and released from the Anderson Memorial Hospital after a terrifying spill during a stunt during the second half of the Flames' 85-54 defeat of North Carolina-Asheville. Alloway, a 19-year-old sophomore from Port Villa, Calif., fell on her head after standing atop another cheerleader's shoulders. She was unconscious for a while and was not removed from the floor for almost 30 minutes while being stabilized. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB