Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 6, 1993 TAG: 9303060240
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
RADFORD SENT PACKING
Yet again, the Big South Conference basketball tournament semifinals were Radford University's gloomy graveyard.For the fourth straight year and fifth time in six attempts, the Highlanders faltered one victory short of the tournament final, losing to Winthrop 87-69.
Winthrop (14-15) snapped a seven-game losing streak to Radford and will entertain hopes of a fourth straight tournament victory when it plays Coastal Carolina, a 66-59 winner over Maryland-Baltimore County, in today's championship game at the North Charleston Coliseum. Coastal has beaten Winthrop 10 straight times.
The championship game will be televised nationally on ESPN at noon.
Winthrop, the eighth seed in the nine-team field and a squad that had lost seven of eight coming into the tournament, beat North Carolina-Asheville 101-87 and decked top-seeded Towson State 83-79 in the quarterfinals.
"I think it's ironic that they were playing their third straight game yet it looked like they had a little more pop than we did," Radford coach Ron Bradley said. "I think part of that was the emotional game we had [Thursday] with Liberty."
That was the 73-69 upset of the Flames in which the Highlanders (15-16) appeared to spend every bit of their emotional capital.
"We all got some rest last night," Radford point guard Brian Schmall said. "I don't think that was a factor."
The defeat represented the close of the Radford careers of Schmall, Doug Day and Tom Gallaher. Schmall, the point guard who attended former conference member Augusta for two years and Radford for two, had a team-high 20 points to go with seven assists. He finished with 563 assists for his career, most ever in the Big South.
Day scored 16 points and made three 3-pointers to top off his career scoring total of 2,027 points, including an NCAA-record 401 3-pointers. Those seemed to be hollow accomplishments after Day was forced to endure his fourth semifinal loss in the conference tournament.
"It's a big disappointment, especially this year, when we didn't play well during the season," Day said. "We wanted to have a good tournament so we could go out on a positive note."
Things started to go negative for Radford when Winthrop went on an 18-3 rampage that started with Melvin Branham's baby hook from the lane with 15:20 left in the second half. Mike Fayed's scoop shot made the score 62-41 with 9:16 left and Radford, which had not scored a field goal in 7:29, was soon to be fitted for a toe tag.
"We went to a small lineup [and tried to press] and I thought were were getting close to getting back in it, but we'd gotten too far behind," Bradley said.
The Highlanders fought back to a 64-52 deficit with 7:15 left, but got no closer.
The big story early for Winthrop was forward Mark Hailey, who scored 23 of his 32 points in the first 16:14. Hailey was one short of the tournament scoring record and hauled in 16 rebounds.
"I'm sure that I've never played as intensely and with as much emotion as I played tonight in the first half," said Hailey, who has 80 points and 41 rebounds in the three tournament games.
Another key for Winthrop was a strong contribution from Fayed, the sophomore point guard from Roanoke. Fayed had 12 points and five assists in 38 minutes. But perhaps his most valuable work came at the defensive end, where he hawked Day into 6-of-19 shooting, including 3-of-11 from beyond the arc. It was the first time Fayed had guarded Day.
"It was kind of a relief," Fayed said. "Schmall's a better player, to be honest with you."
Tyrone Travis and Don Burgess combined for 21 points for Radford, but both fouled out, mostly in efforts to contain Hailey and 6-9 Eddie Gay inside.
\ see microfilm for box score
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.