Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 11, 1993 TAG: 9301110022
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS BACHELDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
KEYDETS FALL ONE RALLY SHORT
VMI just ran out of rally.For most of Sunday's game against Tennessee-Chattanooga, the Keydets found solutions to their deficits. But VMI had no final answer as the Moccasins edged away late.
UTC, the Southern Conference preseason favorite, survived with a 71-62 basketball victory over the Keydets in league play at Cameron Hall.
VMI freshman Lawrence Gullette hit a 3-pointer to tie the score at 54 with 6:57 remaining. But UTC point guard Tim Brooks replied with an 18-foot jumper, his 11th straight point, and the Mocs led the rest of the way.
Brooks kept his team afloat with a second-half long-distance display. The senior made four 3-pointers in the half, including three straight in a span of 2:43. His last one, at NBA distance, gave UTC a 66-60 lead with 4:35 left.
"I thought Brooks was the best player in the league last year," VMI coach Joe Cantafio said. "He stepped up for them, and that's what great players do."
Brooks, who averages 13.4 points, finished with 22. He was 5-for-8 from 3-point range, got 15 of his points in the second half, and also added nine assists, five rebounds and three steals in 38 minutes.
"My job is to lead by example," Brooks said. "I had to take control. When I had everybody watching me, then I could get the other guys some shots."
VMI center Lewis Preston did not start because of his sprained left ankle, but when the Keydets fell behind 6-0 after two minutes, Cantafio got his 6-foot-8 senior leader in the game. Preston responded with a low-post bucket at 16:59 to get VMI on the board. He finished with 14 points and six rebounds in 27 minutes.
UTC led 20-9 on two free throws by Ed Snead midway through the half. But a 12-2 VMI surge cut the lead to 22-21 at 7:16.
Bobby Jones scored four points in 10 seconds with a short jumper, a steal and a dunk. Bobby Prince finished the run with a 3-pointer.
Prince, a freshman from Lord Botetourt, did not start because of foot injuries. But he came off the bench for 30 minutes and the best game of his career. He finished with 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
The Mocs went up 28-23, but VMI scored seven straight, the last six on back-to-back 3-pointers by Terrell Milam and Jonathan Penn, to take the lead 30-28.
Prince added a driving layup at 1:38 to put the Keydets on top 32-20, but UTC scored five straight to finish the half 35-32. Brandon Born hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to break a 32-32 tie.
VMI shot 54.2 percent (13-for-24) in the first half. It was the first time in 11 halves - since the first half at Radford on Dec. 7 - that the Keydets shot better than 50 percent.
The Mocs made a burst to 48-41 in the second half, but the Keydets scratched back. Three-pointers by Prince and Penn set up Gullette's bomb that tied the score at 54. Penn finished with 15 points and Gullette had 10.
Brooks' jumper and a three-point play by T.J. Jackson put UTC up 59-54 with 6:30 to go. Twice in the next two minutes Penn hit a runner to cut the lead to three, but VMI never got closer. The Keydets misfired late and didn't score in the last 4:07. \
see microfilm for box score