Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 22, 1994 TAG: 9402220131
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
\ For four straight years, no team in the New River District has stood as tall as Blacksburg.
That was true again Monday night.
The Indians stood head and shoulders above Christiansburg, literally, and laid claim to their fourth NRD regular-season title in a row and a wrapped up their fourth consecutive unbeaten district season with a 66-49 championship showdown victory.
It was the 30th straight time a Blacksburg team has beaten a district foe. Blacksburg (9-7 overall, 6-0 NRD) hasn't lost a district game in regular season or tournament play since losing to former NRD member George Wythe in the finals of the 1990 tournament.
"I still hear the players on some other teams I've played on say, `You better not lose a district game,' " said Blacksburg senior center Ben Araman.
The 6-foot-4 Araman, who scored a game-high 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor, was one of the big reasons the Indians won for the ninth time in the past 11 games.
There were a couple other big reasons behind the Indians' latest NRD win: 6-3 bookend forwards Jay Safford and Tony Wheeler, who scored 16 and 10 points, respectively.
The trio combined for 47 points and 27 rebounds. The Indians held a 39-20 advantage on the boards.
"They've got the three big men, everybody knows - it's been in the papers all week," said Christiansburg's Denny Self. "They'd lob it in to them and they'd shoot. We couldn't stop them."
Not that Christiansburg (12-9, 4-2), the NRD's runner-up, didn't try gallantly. The Blue Demons played a soft, match-up zone early on but somehow Araman got loose for eight points in the first quarter as Blacksburg used a 9-0 run to take a 17-11 lead.
Blacksburg never trailed the rest of the way.
One of the game's most telling sequences came when Wheeler gathered three straight offensive rebounds before scoring to give Blacksburg a 23-11 lead with 6 minutes, 33 seconds left in the first half.
Christiansburg rallied in the third quarter behind Self, who finished with 16 points. He had nine points, three rebounds and three blocked shots in a 4-minute span of the third quarter that pulled the Demons within three.
Blacksburg, however, hit five straight shots to end the quarter and got six consecutive points from Safford to quell the rally and lead 47-39 after three quarters. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB