Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 30, 1993 TAG: 9311300075
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
\ Strong second-half shooting helped VMI dispatch a pesky Bluefield team and win its season opener 97-58 Friday night at Cameron Hall.
The Keydets' scrappy youth movement dominated the scoring. Freshman guard Darryl Faulkner led the team with 17 points, including five 3-pointers.
Freshman Warren Johnson scored 12 points and Maurice Spencer, a freshman from Martinsville, added eight.
VMI had trouble with the Rams' zone defense in the first half, shooting 44 percent (17-36). But the Keydets made 52 percent of their attempts in the second-half to pull away from Bluefield (3-4), an NAIA Division I school.
Jonathan Goodman, the Keydets' only starting senior, had nine points and 10 rebounds.
VMI outrebounded the Rams 49-34 and held their leading scorer, Fabian Horton, to six points. Horton entered the game averaging 24 points. He fouled out with 7 minutes, 47 seconds to play.
The Keydets led 25-11 with nine minutes to play in the first half when Bluefield went on a 19-8 run to cut the lead to 33-30 with 3:32 left.
"We had a big lead in the first half, about 15-16 points, but Bluefield did a great job of coming back," said Joe Cantafio, VMI's coach. "They are well-coached. Walt Ayers is a fabulous coach, always has been."
Ayers was an assistant coach at VMI in 1977, the year the Keydets advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals.
Friday's victory was Cantafio's 75th, tying him with Charlie Schmaus as the winningest coach at VMI. Cantafio can break the mark Wednesday night when the Keydets play host to Richmond.
VMI didn't let Bluefield stay close for long. Faulkner made three baskets, including two 3-pointers, and Spencer added a 3-pointer as the Keydets widened the gap to 44-32 at halftime. Bluefield faded away when it shot 27 percent from the field in the second half (8 for 30).
"I told our kids that our guys really have to cut them down," Cantafio said. "They're going to run their offense. We were very fortunate that we hit a bunch of 3s in the second half.
"In the first half when it was a [3-point] ballgame [Faulkner] hit a couple 3s . . . and that really helped. We've got a lot of work to do, we're very young. I think this team will get better. We need to run the offense a little bit.
"We're basically a perimeter-oriented team, and when those shots don't go in, it's going to be a long night."
The Keydets made 32 of 68 field-goal attempts. They were 13 of 27 on 3-pointers.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.