Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 7, 1992 TAG: 9203070243
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From staff and Associated Press reports
DATELINE: ASHEVILLE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Threats' 23 points and defense Friday lifted Tennessee-Chattanooga to an 84-49 obliteration of the Keydets in the opening round of the Southern Conference basketball tournament at the Asheville Civic Center.
VMI's score was the lowest point total in the league's tournament since Davidson defeated UTC 42-40 in the 1986 championship game.
"When you shoot 34 percent and turn it over 22 times, like we did, you're not going to beat anybody," VMI coach Joe Cantafio said. "Give them credit. They're a very good team. They play us 10 more times, they probably beat us 10 more times."
In the first half, VMI (10-18) stayed close for 17 minutes, although Threats played a stifling man-to-man on Keydets' scoring leader Jonathan Penn. Then, in the last two minutes before halftime and in the first 10 minutes of the second half, Threats' 3-point marksmanship fueled the Moccasins' rout.
The seventh-seeded Keydets trailed 27-23, but center Lewis Preston picked up his second foul and Cantafio put him on the bench for the rest of the first half in a gamble to protect his only inside force.
In this lottery, however, UTC had the winning numbers.
Coach Mack McCarthy's club (22-6) scored the last nine points of the first half for a 36-23 bulge. VMI, which didn't attempt a 3-point shot in the opening period, got only one first-half hoop from Penn, the junior forward from Pulaski, Va., who was averaging 19.5 points.
After Threats (pronounced Threets) stifled VMI's top offensive weapon in the first half, the junior-college transfer forward scored 15 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half - including four 3-pointers.
From a 49-32 lead, the Southern's regular-season co-champions scored 14 of the next 16 points in less than three minutes for a 61-34 lead.
Threats finished 8-of-9 from the floor - including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc. UTC guard Tim Brooks had a tournament-record seven steals.
Senior point guard Percy Covington of Roanoke, Va., finished his career by playing only six first-half minutes, in which he re-sprained a bad left wrist. VMI's offensive woes deepened when backup playmaker Sean Spriggs picked up his fourth foul with 17:04 left.
"Percy just couldn't play," Cantafio said. "Sean was our only other point guard to speak of. We kept it close for a while, then the roof caved in. . . . After that, there were times when we weren't even able to enter the offense."
In other first-round games:
\ East Tennessee State 89, The Citadel 55: At Asheville, N.C., the Buccaneers, seeking a fourth straight Southern Conference championship, got 16 points from Rodney English and used their speed and defense to roll past the Bulldogs (10-18).
Top-seeded East Tennessee State (21-6) set the pace early, forcing four turnovers in the first three minutes with a pressuring man-to-man defense and grabbing an 8-0 lead.
The margin reached 38 points midway through the second half as East Tennessee State rested most of its starters.
\ Marshall 83, Furman 76: Tyrone Phillips scored eight of his 25 points during a 2 1/2-minute span in the second half as the Thundering Herd upset the Paladins.
The sixth-seeded Thundering Herd (7-21) had lost to the third-seeded Paladins by 16 points five days ago in the season finale. But Marshall, which turned the ball over 22 times, didn't give it away in the final 3:36 and made 10 of 14 free throws in the last 2:11.
David Stamey scored eight of his career-high 27 points in the final four minutes for Furman (17-11).
\ Appalachian State 86, Western Carolina 69: Steve Spurlock and Tim Powers worked inside during an early second-half spurt as the Mountaineers shook off a slow start to down the Catamounts in a first-round game.
Billy Ross led the Mountaineers with 23 points, and Spurlock and Powers finished with 16 each for fourth-seeded Appalachian State (15-13).
Appalachian State was to have about 12 hours of rest before taking on ETSU.
The fifth-seeded Catamounts, who dressed only nine players because of injuries, closed the season at 11-17. Senior guard Terry Boyd had a game-high 33 points.
by CNB