Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 31, 1993 TAG: 9301310137
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS BACHELDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
MOUNTAINEERS HAND VMI 5TH STRAIGHT DEFEAT
With 14 minutes to play and 19 points separating his afternoon output and his 24-point scoring average, Appalachian State's Billy Ross got busy.Ross, the second-leading scorer in the Southern Conference, summoned his scoring touch Saturday to coincide with a VMI collapse as the Mountaineers rallied for a 64-55 league basketball win at Cameron Hall.
It was the fifth straight loss - all conference games - for VMI (5-11 overall, 3-7 SC), which defeated Appalachian State 93-86 on Jan. 13 in Boone, N.C.
Ross finished with 23 points, below his average but far from subpar. The 6-foot-6 senior guard fired in four 3-pointers and 18 points in the final 14 minutes. He scored 10 straight for Appalachian down the stretch, eight in a span of 1:33 that turned the game around.
"Early on I was forcing shots and getting frustrated," said Ross, who had three first-half points on 1-of-5 shooting. "[VMI] was in some junk defenses and they had a man all over me. I was confused at first.
"Then I hit a couple of layups to get me going and they wore down. I was able to get a little open, and that makes so much difference."
VMI led 32-28 at the half and the lead swapped sides three times before the Keydets pulled to a five-point lead with 7:30 to play. After several missed shots and a scramble under the glass, Keydets center Lewis Preston grabbed the ball and muscled it up for an aggressive slam that put VMI in control 51-46.
Preston seemed to be venting the frustrations of a nagging, month-old ankle injury, a personal shooting slump and the team's losing streak. The 6-8 senior finished with 10 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks, but he made only five of 14 shots (three were dunks).
Appalachian State (8-8, 5-5) replied with a 10-0 run to capture the lead for good. Ricky Nedd had a running slam, then Ross nailed two 3-pointers and a driving layup - eight points in 1:33 - to put the Mountaineers up 56-51 with 4:35 left.
"The whole game was the last 6 1/2 minutes," VMI coach Joe Cantafio said. "We missed some wide-open shots and we didn't take care of the ball.
"And Ross hit some big-time shots right in our face. He's a money player. We did a nice job on him early, but he was tremendous, especially when he had to be."
After VMI's Terrell Milam made two free throws at 1:57 to cut the lead to 56-53, Appalachian went 8-of-11 at the line (Ross was 4-of-4) and the Mountaineers gathered two key offensive rebounds on missed free throws.
ASU made its first four free throws, then missed 10 of 11 before finishing strong. The Mountaineers sank seven 3-pointers and have made at least two in 50 straight games.
The Keydets fell apart after Preston's rim-rattler. In the final 7:30, VMI scored four points - Milam's free throws and Juan Banks' uncontested layup with four seconds left.
VMI shot 36.1 percent (22-of-61) from the floor and missed all 10 of its second-half 3-point attempts. Jonathan Penn had three 3-pointers and 11 of his team-high 15 points before halftime to help the Keydets take a lead.
Penn's second 3-pointer, with 14:21 remaining in the half, made him the 20th 1,000-point scorer in VMI history.
"The scoring and the individual recognition are nice, but what people remember more is what the team did," said Penn, a senior from Pulaski.
\ see microfilm for box score