Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 7, 1993 TAG: 9302070219
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
RICE RALLY THWARTS FLEMING
With 30.4 seconds left, William Fleming led Rice of Manhattan, N.Y., by seven points.With 0.3 seconds remaining, Rice's Felipe Lopez, a junior and arguably the best high school basketball player in the country, let go of a 3-point shot. As the horn sounded, Lopez's shot went through the nets.
That capped an incredible rally by Rice, the country's 11th-ranked high school team by USA Today, to give the Raiders a 53-52 victory over William Fleming in the second game of the Newbern-Trane Classic on Saturday at the Salem Civic Center.
For naught was a fine performance by Fleming's Carlos Rhodes, who scored a game-high 23 points. He made nine of 15 field-goal attempts, including three of seven from 3-point range. His 3-pointer from the right side with 2:09 remaining made it 48-45 and ignited what should have been a winning rally for the Colonels.
After sitting out the first quarter with a leg injury suffered in practice this past week, the 6-foot-5 Lopez was terrific the last three quarters.
"He was playing on half a leg at half speed, but he wanted to play," Rice coach Lou DeMello said after his big gun had saved the Raiders' national ranking.
"He wanted the ball; he was begging for it," Fleming coach Burrall Paye said of Lopez's last shot.
The Rice star wound up with 21 points. He made only three of 11 from 3-point range, but he was smooth enough to prove to the 2,000 spectators how talented he is.
"I've got the confidence to shoot the threes even though I was missing them," Lopez said. "I had told my coach, `I'm just waiting for the big one. It's coming, don't worry.'
"I missed two or three shots I should have made. I put my head down. Then I said, `Felipe, don't worry, it's going to come.' "
The Colonels (13-4) seemed to have the game under control when Derrick Hines made two free throws with 30.4 seconds left to make it 52-45. However, Jemare Crump fouled Lopez on a 3-point try and the Raiders' guard sank three free throws with 25.4 seconds left.
After Crump missed a one-and-one with 18.9 seconds remaining, Reggie Freeman's follow-up shot made it 52-50 with 10.1 seconds left. Hines missed a one-and-one with 0:07 left. The Raiders went right to Lopez for the game-winner.
Hines, Timesland's third-leading free-throw shooter with an 81.3 percent average, made four of nine in the final quarter.
"We had the man we wanted at the free-throw line," Paye said. "We had this team. If we can play with them, we can play with anyone in the state. Right?"
\ Oak Hill 90, GW-Danville 49: Jerry Stackhouse had seven dunks and 17 of his game-high 23 points in the first half as the Warriors rolled past the Eagles in the first game of the Classic.
Oak Hill (24-0), ranked third nationally by USA Today, led 53-20 at the half. As a team, Oak Hill had 17 blocked shots and 11 dunks. Makhtar Ndiaye had a triple-double of 11 points, 14 rebounds and 11 blocks for the Warriors.
\ see microfilm for box score