Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 28, 1994 TAG: 9401280153
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
After the buzzer sounded, Joe Cantafio smiled and took one last look at the scoreboard to make sure he had seen it right: VMI 82, Marshall 78.
The Keydets broke a 13-game losing streak Thursday night by holding off Marshall in a Southern Conference basketball game at Cameron Hall that made Cantafio VMI's all-time winningest coach.
The Keydets had lost 29 of their past 30 games, 29 consecutive Division I games and 21 consecutive regular-season conference games.
"We got a chance in the ballgame, and maybe this is the start of something to come," said Cantafio, who surpassed Charlie Schmaus' 75 victories. "I want our kids to keep going forward. That was a great effort. There were some tremendous individual efforts."
Cantafio's record at VMI is 76-137.
Senior Sean Spriggs, a reserve who had seen limited action this season, got things going for the Keydets (2-13 overall, 1-8 Southern) in the second half. VMI took a 16-point lead, its largest of the season with 13 minutes to play off a Spriggs assist to Lawrence Gullette.
Gullette finished with 13 points, and Jonathan Goodman had a team-high 14 points and six rebounds. Bryan Woolsey, Warren Johnson and Darryl Faulkner added 11 points apiece, and Spriggs had five points, three steals and seven assists.
The Thundering Herd (6-11, 4-5) closed the gap in the second half to five points when Doug Schieppe made three consecutive 3-pointers.
Marshall got as close as two points on another Schieppe 3-pointer with 30 seconds to play, but Spriggs made two free throws and Bobby Prince added another to seal the victory for VMI.
"It looked shaky there for a minute. Nothing's easy. Anyone who watches college basketball knows that," Cantafio said.
Marshall was led by Schieppe with 22 points, including six 3-pointers. Troy Gray added 18 points and Shawn Moore 17.
by CNB