Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 1, 1993 TAG: 9303010029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
HIGHLANDERS, FLAMES RIVALRY A REAL HOT ONE
In Division I basketball, the Big South Conference is short stuff. However, that's where this state's man-sized rivalry has grown up in only two winters.They'll play it again Thursday night in the quarterfinal nightcap of the Big South tournament at Charleston, S.C. A more appropriate setting would be to move the game out into Charleston's harbor and let Radford and Liberty fire their first shots at Fort Sumter.
"We feel the same way about them that they feel about us," said Radford senior point guard Brian Schmall. "We really hate each other."
The latest barely civil encounter between Virginia's only Big South members was the Highlanders' rally to a 79-74 victory Saturday night before 4,000 noisemakers at the Dedmon Center. With so much yapping in Dedmon, this could have been a Big Mouth game.
Liberty won a month earlier by 20 at the Vines Center, where the schools played before the largest crowd in Big South history - a repeat of last year's frenzied atmosphere.
"Their fans have given us a hard time," said Radford center Tom Gallaher. "They just got into the league last year, and their fans immediately helped make it a rivalry. When they come here, we have to show we can defend our court."
Flames coach Jeff Meyer recalled that the schools have been playing since their NAIA days, when Radford initiated its men's program in 1974-75 and the Rev. Jerry Falwell's school was Lynchburg Baptist.
"This was a typical game between these teams," Meyer said. "A lot of energy was expended."
The emotion level also got a shove last year when the Highlanders and Flames finished one-two in the Big South's regular season and figured to play for a first NCAA Tournament bid for either. Instead, each lost in the semifinals.
This year, each club has been an underachiever. Liberty, picked to win, finished fourth despite having what likely is the best talent in the league. Radford, third in the preseason poll behind the Flames and regular-season champion Towson State, slipped to fifth despite having four of the top six scorers back from last year's 20-9 club.
The Flames have been dying since a 14-7 start, despite having superior size in 6-foot-10 NBA prospect Julius Nwosu and 6-8 Michigan State transfer Parish Hickman against a league that's Big in name only. Liberty is only 11-13 against Division I teams but has the ability to win the conference tournament - if Meyer curbs his incessant substituting and if the team pounds the ball inside without pounding its way into foul trouble at the other end of the floor.
Radford may have hurt its first-round chances by pushing for an in-state rematch. A Liberty win would have paired Radford and Campbell, and the Camels' size could have relieved the potential of a Nigerian nightmare - Nwosu - for coach Ron Bradley's Highlanders.
However, as Radford proved throughout this season and again Saturday night, the emotion too often has been lacking for a 14-15 team that's scoring 82 points per game and rebounding better than a year ago.
"If anything, the way we won this game should teach us we just can't show up and win," Gallaher said. "Our effort sometimes has been questionable."
Radford doesn't have the quickness of a year ago, and it cannot extend its defense to force turnovers as it did in Bradley's first season. The Highlanders' perimeter defense too often is too slow or absent - or both - and because of that Bradley has spent the winter tinkering.
An astute coach like Bradley isn't often at a loss to explain a loss. He said his defense "has been a riddle." He might have added it's been riddled, too.
Without a homecourt advantage, Radford and Liberty will have to fan their own emotion in this week's date. One Virginia team will be in the Big South semifinals. It depends on which team within each team shows up.