Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 17, 1993 TAG: 9301170128
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS BACHELDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
KEYDETS CALL ON RESERVES
Saturday's battle between VMI and The Citadel was decided by sub warfare.Reserves carried the Keydets in the closing minutes as VMI pulled out a 76-74 basketball victory in a sloppy, physical, intense Southern Conference matchup.
Sean Spriggs and Jonathan Goodman led the depth charge. Goodman, a 6-foot-7 junior, hit two crucial buckets in the final two minutes.
His first basket, on a spinning post move at 2:00, gave VMI a 72-70 lead. Then, with the score tied at 74 and 21 seconds remaining, Goodman tipped in a missed free throw by Jonathan Penn.
"When I see the defensive player relaxed [during free throws], I try to force my [232-pound] body in the lane," said Goodman, who finished with four points, three rebounds and two steals in 12 minutes. "Then, I just hope that the ball falls into my hands. I try to teach my teammates how to do it, too, because it can win games."
The tip indeed was the winner because of the defensive play of Goodman and Spriggs in the final seconds. Goodman contested Andre Wright's 3-point attempt with eight seconds left. The 5-10 Spriggs pulled down the rebound inside but had to hurl the ball back into play as he fell out of bounds.
The Citadel's Chad Leonard ended up with the ball and drove from the wing down the lane. Spriggs scrambled up, met Leonard 10 feet from the basket and stole the ball cleanly off the dribble. Spriggs passed up the court to Juan Banks as time expired.
Spriggs played six minutes, including the final 4:16 after starting point guard Bobby Prince fouled out. His defensive play made up for three missed free throws in the final 1:20.
"That's what subs are for," said Spriggs, who lost his starting job to Prince earlier this season. "We have to play hard after the starters played so hard."
Brian Woolsey was the third reserve on the floor when the buzzer sounded. Woolsey, a sophomore, played 13 minutes and went 1-for-1 with a key 3-pointer that cut the Bulldogs' lead to one, 65-64, with 6:18 left.
VMI (5-6, 3-2) took its first lead on two Prince free throws with 5:40 remaining. There were three ties and three lead changes down the stretch.
Prince, a former Lord Botetourt High School player, had 17 points and six assists. He made nine of 11 free throws and hit two 3-pointers to cut deficits of nine and seven. His second 3-pointer, with 8:17 to play, started a 12-2 run that put VMI on top.
"Prince would just not let us fall too far behind," VMI coach Joe Cantafio said. "All of his shots were big."
After Prince started the late surge, Reggie Jones fouled VMI's Lewis Preston and was hit with a technical when he slapped the floor. They were Jones' third and fourth fouls.
Preston hit four straight free throws to cut the lead to 63-61 with 7:45 to play. Jones, who made 15 of 16 free throws and had an 18-point second half, fouled out with 1:20 remaining.
Preston was 11-for-12 on free throws and had 17 points with nine rebounds. Jonathan Penn, with 16 points, hit double-figures for the 26th straight game.
VMI's Bobby Jones scored eight in the first half, but he got sick and didn't play the second. Starter Lawrence Gullette had four fouls and sat most of the second half.
The Citadel (1-9, 0-4), loser of nine straight, led 28-14 midway through the first half, but VMI narrowed the lead to 40-36 at halftime.
The game featured 48 fouls, 66 free throws and 38 turnovers.
\ see microfilm for box score