Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 23, 1994 TAG: 9401230130
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Davidson capitalized on cold VMI shooting and a considerable height advantage and sent the Keydets to their 12th consecutive loss, 78-60 in a Southern Conference basketball game.
The Keydets (1-12 overall, 0-7 Southern) have not won since Nov. 29, when they beat Bluefield College 97-58 in their opener. Some of those losses have come against Richmond, Virginia Tech, Radford, Dayton and Wake Forest, as well as Southern powers Tennessee-Chattanooga and East Tennessee State.
"It's frustrating," said Jonathan Goodman, one of VMI's two seniors and the Keydets' tallest starter at 6-foot-7 1/2. "But we can't use the other team as an excuse anymore. We've got to go out and play like a team."
Darryl Faulkner, one of three freshman guards who starts for VMI, came up with the same answer.
"We're a young team, but we can no longer use that as an excuse," he said. "We need to play like a team."
Keydets forward Lawrence Gullette carried most of the load at the start against the Wildcats (10-5, 4-4), whose record includes victories over Clemson, UNC Charlotte and North Carolina State. Gullette scored six of the first 10 points for VMI, which trailed 45-21 at halftime after shooting 27 percent (9-of-33) from the field.
"I thought we only forced a couple of shots," said Joe Cantafio, the Keydets' coach. "I didn't think we got that bad of a look [at the basket]. If you don't shoot, you can't win."
Meanwhile, Davidson was hitting nearly 60 percent of its field-goal attempts in the first half. The Wildcats shot 53 percent (28-of-53) for the game - most of which they played without their leading scorer, Janko Narat.
Narat, a senior forward from Slovenia who averages 18.4 points per game, left midway through the first half with a sprained right ankle and no points.
"It's nice to see we can play well and still respond in his absence," said Bob McKillop, who is in his fifth year as coach at Davidson.
George Spain picked up the slack with a career-high 21 points on 9-of-11 field-goal shooting. The 6-8 junior, who entered the game shooting 79 percent against conference teams, dominated inside along with sophomore Brandon Williams, who finished with 20 points.
Jason Zimmerman and Quinn Harwood came off the bench to score 12 each for the Wildcats.
"[VMI] was coming off a tough loss to ETSU [93-92 in overtime Thursday] and we felt that if we could jump on them early, it would keep them from being resilient," McKillop said.
The Keydets stepped it up and outscored Davidson 39-33 in the second half. They cut the deficit to 16 points three times but never got closer. Ten of VMI's final 22 points came on free throws.
"It's like a cycle: In the first, half we're slow, and then we pick it up in the second half," Faulkner said. "We got the open shots and spotted up; they just weren't falling."
The Keydets improved to 42 percent shooting in the second half and finished the game at 34 percent, just off their season average of 36 percent. VMI was 4-of-24 from 3-point range.
"We never got the ball inside, and when we did, we missed the easy tip-ins," Cantafio said. "It's been a tough year - and you might think I'm crazy now - but this team is going to be good. They're so young and have so much potential. But right now, it's tough."
Freshman Maurice Spencer led the Keydets with 14 points, eight coming in the second half. Faulkner scored with 11, and Goodman added nine points and 10 rebounds.
by CNB