Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 10, 1993 TAG: 9301100084
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS BACHELDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
KEYDETS UPEND WCU
VMI'S basketball team found that Saturday's 67-56 victory over Western Carolina was good for what ails it.\ After a tough 1-5 road stretch, VMI wanted to get home, get hot and get healthy.
But the Keydets just settled for a win.
Despite nagging injuries to two key players and despite more poor shooting, VMI made a successful return to Cameron Hall on Saturday.
In their first home game since Dec. 1, the Keydets put away Western Carolina 67-56 in a Southern Conference basketball game.
Senior forward Lewis Preston, who played on a left ankle sprained a week ago, started and hobbled his way to a 14-point, nine-rebound performance.
Freshman point guard Bobby Prince, who has strained ligaments in both feet, played eight minutes off the bench. Prince, who played at Lord Botetourt High School, has started two games this season.
VMI shot 37 percent (20-for-54), four points less than its season average, but the Keydets succeeded on 23 of 30 free throws, including 18 of 22 in the second half.
"I just got done telling the kids that that was not a pretty win," VMI coach Joe Cantafio said. "But a win is a win, especially when you've been around here for a while.
"Lewis was operating at about 50 percent. He's just not the same player he was last year. And I don't know when he'll get rest because we need him out there."
VMI's offensive troubles paled in comparison to the shooting woes of the Catamounts.
Western Carolina (2-6 overall, 0-2 conference), a team that entered the game shooting 39.8 percent, made 22 of 68 field-goal attempts (32.4 percent). It took the Catamounts more than 13 minutes of first-half play to reach double figures.
Robert Gaines' 3-pointer at 6:46 cut VMI's lead to seven, 18-11. Western Carolina made nine field goals in the half but trailed just 30-24 at halftime.
Catamounts coach Greg Blatt is at a loss to explain his team's anemic offense.
"If you've got any answers, let me know," Blatt said. "We've tried everything known to coaching.
"For the most part, we take good shots. I think it's a matter of confidence. If you hold a team to 38 percent and shoot respectably, you should win.
"But we don't shoot respectably."
The Keydets (3-5, 1-1) started the second half with a 10-2 run. Preston scored four, freshman Lawrence Gullette scored four and Jonathan Penn added a steal and dunk to put VMI on top 40-26 with 15:34 left.
After Western Carolina managed its second bucket of the half at 15:19, VMI's Juan Banks hit a fall-away, off-the-glass 3-pointer from the wing as the shot clock expired.
"That was the biggest shot of the game," Cantafio said.
Penn, who finished with 17 points, converted a three-point play and Jonathan Goodman hit a jump hook as the Keydets cruised to a 50-33 lead with 10:10 remaining.
Then Western Carolina rallied with an 18-6 run over the next 6:32. Freshman Anquell McCollum scored 13 points in the spurt, including two long 3-pointers and 10 consecutive points, to pull the Catamounts to 56-51 with 3:26 left.
Scott Bradley's 3-pointer with 53 seconds left cut the lead to four, 60-56, but the Catamounts never got closer. VMI was 9-for-10 at the free-throw line in the final 1:09.
Penn, Preston and Gullette were a combined 14-for-14 on free throws. Gullette finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and three steals.
Gaines, an all-conference player last season, had four 3-pointers and 16 points for Western Carolina. McCollum added 15 points.
VMI plays host to Tennessee-Chattanooga today at 3 p.m. The Moccasins traveled to Lexington via Huntington, W.Va., where they lost to Marshall 78-77 on Saturday.
Prince, who didn't practice during the week, said he now is playing nearly pain-free. Preston can't say the same.
"The ankle is giving me a lot of trouble, especially on my post moves when I have to pivot off my left foot," Preston said. "But I have to play hard and play through it." \
see microfilm for box score