Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 5, 1993 TAG: 9301050160
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
HIGHLANDERS RATE POORLY IN VICTORY
Fortunately for Radford University's basketball team, the zombie spell wore off by the second half.It's awfully embarrassing to be shown up by a Division III team and 8-11 year-old girls.
The Highlanders didn't qualify to star in any instructional videos on precision hoops, but they did beat Western Maryland 99-74 and they did give indications - after averaging a paltry 62 points in three of their last four games - that offense isn't a complete mystery to them.
All that and the Dedmon Center crowd was treated to cameo performances from rarely-seen (nine combined minutes for the season) Matthew Reynolds and Dragan Skoko.
Even so, the paying customers reserved their loudest applause for the pre-teen girls from Pulaski County who put on a rousing, albeit uneven, display of fullcourt basketball at halftime of the big show.
Highlanders coach Ron Bradley seemed to agree with the fans when he evaluated his team thusly: "I'll give them about a C-minus."
Other noteworthy events included Doug Day's shooting, which turned out to be rather respectable after he'd scored an alarmingly skimpy five points in his past two games. Day made eight of 13 3-point attempts en route to a game-high 26.
Day was one of three regular starters - guard Brian Schmall and center Tyrone Travis were the others - benched before the opening tip Monday. Freshmen Johnny Watkins and Jason Lansdown got the call along with senior center Tom Gallaher.
"At this point, I'm starting to be concerned whether this team understands what it's going to take to reach it's potential," Bradley said. Translation: "I'm going to shake some butts up."
Day may not have been the only one offended, but he was the only one to admit to it.
"I took it personally," he said. "But I tried to turn a negative into a positive."
Western Maryland (1-7) turned out to be a dangerous foe early and even ran up a 34-29 lead.
"For the first 18 minutes of the game, I don't think we could have played much better," Green Terrors coach Nick Zoulias said.
Radford (5-6) became somewhat more enthusiastic after that and the disparity in talent became increasingly apparent.
"It seems like the same thing every game," Schmall said. "We need a wake-up call. It shouldn't be that way, but it is."
Travis scored 15 points in 18 minutes and Don Burgess, who did start as usual, had 11 points and four assists. However, the Terrors outrebounded Radford 42-39, which seemed to be nothing more than a byproduct of effort.
Afterward, Radford's players seemed to have a continuing air of unease about them.
"It's no secret," Travis said. "This team just hasn't been playing with the spunk it did last year. We all know it."
\ see microfilm for box score
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.