Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 18, 1993 TAG: 9302180279
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS BACHELDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SCOTT HITS 1,000TH POINT; MAROONS ROLL
The first 991 points of Hilliary Scott's Roanoke College basketball career gushed through the net.The next nine trickled.
After a nerve-racking 33 minutes and 42 seconds against Guilford on Wednesday night, Scott snagged a loose ball and powered up a short bank-shot to end his suffering.
The smooth junior's 1,000th point pushed the Maroons' lead to 19 points with 6:18 remaining and Roanoke cruised to a 90-71 win over the Quakers at the Bast Center.
"I tried not to think about it, but those were the hardest nine points in my basketball career," said 6-foot-5 Scott, who is from Lynchburg. "I slowly got them, but it was like there was a lid on the basket. I didn't want to force it, but I didn't play my regular game. It was just a relief and it was the best feeling ever to get a standing ovation. I'm glad I got it at home in front of my family."
With its fifth straight win, Roanoke (18-5 overall, 13-4 ODAC) clinched second place in the ODAC. The Maroons, picked to finish third, end the regular season Saturday at Hampden-Sydney, then they play host to a first-round ODAC tournament game Tuesday night against either Guilford or Hampden-Sydney.
Roanoke's 18 wins are its most since 1986-87; its 13 league wins are the most since 1983-84.
Scott's prolonged drama overshadowed a 21-point, 11-rebound, three-block, three-dunk performance by senior Rick Becker, playing in his final regular-season home game.
While Scott was quiet with five first-half points, Becker, from Christiansburg, scored 16 points on 8-for-11 shooting to help the Maroons take a 42-39 halftime lead.
The first half featured two ties and 16 lead changes, including eight in a span of 2:23. In his fifth and best game since missing nine games with a shoulder injury, Becker had eight of his team's first 13 points and eight straight later.
"This is the first game all year that I felt good physically," Becker said. "I was also more in the game mentally. It was tough to get back into it after missing a month in the heart of the season."
Roanoke reserves had a tough act to follow, but they made their mark. Subs scored 17 points in a 19-3 second-half run that clinched the win.
In a game within the game, Guilford's junior guard Paul Ferrell beat Scott to 1,000 points on a layup with 17:41 left. Ferrell also entered the game nine points short of the milestone and had eight at halftime.
Scott, who averages 21 points and finished with 15, scored his 998th point with 18:25 left. Then he missed two shots, committed his third foul and sat out four minutes until the 8:15 mark.
At 6:58, Scott was open at the free-throw line but took a dribble and dished to Bryant Lee for a dunk. At 6:35, he kicked the ball out of bounds on a breakaway layup.
"I thought I had it for sure," said Scott, the 22nd player in school history to reach 1,000 points. "I guess I just got careless."
Obviously more relaxed, Scott scored six of Roanoke's next eight points in the four minutes after his game-stopping bucket.
The Maroons shot 54.5 percent and outrebounded Guilford 44-25.
"Hilliary was definitely not himself for most of the game," Roanoke coach Page Moir said. "But Rick got us going and the guys off the bench gave us a huge lift."
Lee had 11 points, Mike Thornton had 10, and Joe Schrantz turned four offensive rebounds into seven of his nine points.
Chad Brown's 23 led Guilford. \
see microfilm for box score