Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 18, 1993 TAG: 9301180031
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS BACHELDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
SUNDAY NO FUN DAY FOR VMI
Weekend play continues to be puzzling and frustrating for VMI.As the hosts of two straight weekend series in the Southern Conference's new Saturday-Sunday basketball format, the Keydets have gone partially unrewarded for fine play.
Two Saturdays in a row, VMI has played poorly in wins against the weaker teams in the league. While on consecutive Sundays, coach Joe Cantafio's team has performed well in close losses to conference heavyweights.
Sunday against first-place Georgia Southern, VMI trailed by nine with 52 seconds remaining and nearly caught the Eagles. Bobby Prince's leaning 3-pointer rattled out of the rim at the buzzer and league newcomer Georgia Southern finished a harrowing road trip with a 73-70 win at Cameron Hall.
The Keydets shot well from the floor (49 percent) and from the line (79 percent), but were wiped out on the boards, 24 to 46. The Eagles had a crucial 22 offensive rebounds to VMI's five.
"Obviously, they just killed us on the offensive glass," Cantafio said. "But I think we had the tempo we needed, we ran our offense pretty good and we really got after them.
"I like what I see. This is a good VMI basketball team and we're going to win some games."
Georgia Southern reserve forward Shawn Brown had six offensive rebounds and a career-high 21 points.
"We didn't have the inside intensity against Marshall [in a 75-74 loss Saturday]," said Brown, a wide load at 6-foot-6, 250 pounds.
"We had to prove we could bang inside. We have lapses sometimes, but that's our style of game."
VMI (5-7 overall, 3-3 SC) trailed 35-33 at halftime, but quickly took a second-half lead on a Jonathan Penn 3-pointer at 19:20. The lead changed hands four more times in the next five minutes.
Penn hit another 3-pointer and Lewis Preston made two free throws - after a technical foul on Georgia Southern coach Frank Kerns - to give VMI a 44-43 edge with 14:27 left.
But the Eagles (10-3, 4-1) burst on top 51-44 with eight points in 47 seconds on 3-pointers by Kevin Washington and Charlton Young, and a long baseline jumper by Brown.
Then the Keydets got some help from above. The scoreboard suspended above midcourt went on the blink after Brown's bucket and a 10-minute delay extinguished the Eagles' momentum.
"They are scary the way they can score so fast," Cantafio said. "I was just about to call timeout and the scoreboard went dead. I hope Frank doesn't think I pulled the cord out."
VMI came roaring back. Preston scored 11 of his 17 points in 4:20, including seven in a 10-2 surge (after the malfunction) that gave the Keydets a 54-53 lead with 10:08 to go.
The teams swapped leads several more times before Penn's runner at 8:20 tied the score at 60.
Then Georgia Southern composed a 12-3 run - six points inside by Chris Birden - to lead 72-63 with 52 seconds left. Birden finished with five offensive boards and 16 points.
But the Eagles missed the front end of two one-and-ones as VMI again rallied. Prince hit a driving layup, Lawrence Gullette drained a long 3-pointer and Penn made a stickback to cut the lead to 72-70 with 13 seconds left.
Young then made one of two free throws at :12, setting up Prince's last-second attempt to tie.
"We played much better today [than Saturday], even though we lost," said Penn, who has scored in double figures 27 straight games. "Our shots are finally falling and now it's just a matter of believing that we're one of the top three teams in the conference. "
Penn finished with 23 points and Juan Banks had 13, including a key 3-point shot and three-point play in the second half. \
see microfilm for box score