Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 4, 1994 TAG: 9402040138
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
They were brash, bold and intimidating - and that was just the T-shirts.
Roanoke College unveiled new duds Thursday night and emulated the "Refuse to Lose" message on the back by beating Bridgewater 70-58 in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference men's basketball game.
"That's just one of our themes," said Hilliary Scott, who led Roanoke with 23 points and eight rebounds. "I don't think it's being cocky. It's just an attitude we want to have. We refuse to lose."
Said Bryant Lee, a junior forward, "We had them made about three weeks ago, and we wanted to bring them out at home. That's been our motto the whole year. Sometimes we don't shoot well, but we're always tough on defense, and that's what it's about. You've got to want to win."
The Eagles (12-7 overall, 7-6 ODAC) opened the game with an attitude of their own, taking a 25-14 lead. Dan Rush, a 6-foot-8 junior center, sparked Bridgewater's first-half efforts, scoring 12 points on 6-of-7 field-goal shooting.
Rush entered the game ranked third in the nation in field-goal percentage (67.5). He finished the game with 18 points, 13 shy of 1,000 for his Bridgewater career.
"It was definitely a gut-check for us. I don't think we've been down by that much this season," said Lee, who had a team-high 10 rebounds to go with 12 points. "Rush was a little unstoppable in the first half. But I got some help from my teammates to shut him down."
Rush had one field goal in the second half and was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. He added eight rebounds.
"He's one of the best centers in the league, but we were making it too easy for him," said coach Page Moir, who watched his Roanoke team outscore Bridgewater 17-2 in the final six minutes of the first half to take a 31-30 lead.
It was the 13th consecutive victory for the Maroons (17-1, 11-1) and their 21st in a row at the Bast Center. Roanoke, which is ranked second behind Greensboro College in the NCAA Division III South Region and ninth in the nation, had not played since Jan. 26.
"I didn't say anything to the team about it, but I knew after an eight-day break that we might not play well, and they proved me right," Moir said. "We weren't playing well defensively and we had to get back in the swing of things. Luckily, we did it before we were in too deep."
The Maroons held Jeff Berry, the ODAC's top scorer, without a basket until a dunk at the 9-minute, 6-second mark of the first half. The 6-7 senior forward, who averages 20.5 points, had 10 in the first half and finished with a team-high 21 points and nine rebounds.
Roanoke never trailed in the second half and used a 16-2 run to open a 15-point lead. Kevin Martin, a senior from Collinsville, scored 11 points in the half to finish with 12. He also added four assists and two steals.
The Maroons are gearing up for a showdown Saturday with Hampden-Sydney. The Tigers remained tied with Roanoke atop the ODAC standings, thanks to a quadruple-overtime victory over Guilford on Wednesday.
Moir said the Maroons are preparing accordingly for the Tigers' fast-paced style.
"We took two or three days last week to just go at each other," he said. "That's the best way to do it."
by CNB