Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9412010123
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
An early season conference test turned into a deft display of versatility for the Roanoke men's basketball team Wednesday night at the Bast Center.
The Maroons used offensive depth and a stifling defense to dismantle Emory & Henry - the only team they lost to in the regular season last year - 94-79 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
Roanoke (3-1 overall) had six players score in double figures, including freshman Nathan Hungate of Northside High School, who finished with 10.
``It's a tough way to start the ODAC season and I'm glad it's out of the way,`` said Roanoke coach Page Moir. ``I thought we played as well as we've played all year.''
The Maroons jumped out to a 31-21 lead behind the efforts of sophomore guard Jason Bishop and junior center Steve Camara, who combined for 18 early points.
The Wasps (0-2) struggled against the Roanoke press but stayed in the game with 3-pointers, converting five in a row at one stretch.
``Obviously [the press] was not a coaching emphasis and it needed to be,'' said Bob Johnson, Emory's coach. ``We were not spending enough time on certain things and there's only one guy to blame for that and it's me.''
The Maroons closed out the half with a 9-2 run and took a 53-41 lead. Roanoke shot 67 percent in the first half to 41 percent by E&H.
Maroons' senior forward Bryant Lee, an all-ODAC selection last year, was held to five points in the first half, all on free throws.
``If my teammates are going to knock them down like that, I can't complain about a 12-point halftime lead,'' Lee said. ``I can deal with the pressure of being double-teamed or triple-teamed if those guys are going to score like they did.''
Said Moir: ``Bryant Lee might be the best decoy in America because we've got others who can step up and score.''
In the second half, the Wasps came out gunning again. Bassett native Dytanyon Norman scored 10 of his team-high 24 points in the first seven minutes - six on 3-pointers. Christiansburg's Kevin Alexander added one of his five 3-poiners to cut the Maroons' lead to 59-56.
The Wasps got as close as two points with 7:37 to play after a layup by freshman Jason Light, but Roanoke went on an 18-4 run to put the game out of reach.
Lee sparked the run with his first field goal of the night - a layup with 8:38 left. He then found his groove inside and finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Bishop and Hungate hooked up on several dazzling plays that pleased the crowd of 1,214 down the stretch.
Driving to the basket on a fast break, Bishop kicked the ball out to Hungate, who knocked in a 3-pointer to make it 77-70. Hungate reciprocated two minutes later with a long pass to Bishop under the basket to make it 84-72.
``We always work against each other in practice,'' a smiling Hungate said of his backcourt mate. ``It was fun to be on the same team in a game and see what we could do.``
Bishop finished with 13 points, five assists and six steals. Also in double figures for the Maroons was Camara, who had career highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Akil Stewart and Joe Schrantz added 11 points each.
Alexander finished with 19 points and eight assists for the Wasps, and Light added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
The Maroons, who converted on 29 of 42 field-goal attempts, outrebounded E&H 46-31 and held a 14-8 advantage in steals.
EMORY & HENRY (79)
Alexander 5-9 4-4 19, Lauderback 4-11 0-0 8, Norman 8-20 2-5 24, Fore 2-2 0-0 4, Bissette 0-4 0-1 0, White 3-5 4-4 10, Nogel 0-1 0-0 0, Wheatley 2-10 0-0 6, Childress 2-2 0-0 4, Green 1-3 0-0 2, Murphy 0-2 2-2 2. Total 20-69 12-16 79.
ROANOKE (94)
Stewart 2-5 7-8 11, Bishop 5-11 3-4 13, Lee 4-7 5-8 14, Schrantz 5-7 0-0 11, Camara 7-11 5-6 19, Braun 2-3 1-2 5, Fitch 1-1 0-0 2, Hamlin 2-7 3-8 7, Genthner 1-2 0-0 2, Hungate 2-3 5-6 10, Boykin 0-1 0-0 0. Total 31-58 29-42 94.
Halftime-Roanoke 53, Emory & Henry 41. Three-pointers-E&H 13-28 (Alexander 5-8, Lauderback 0-2, Norman 6-11, Wheatley 2-7), Roanoke 3-10 (Bishop 0-3, Stewart 0-1, Lee 1-1, Schrantz 1-1, Hamlin 0-3, Hungate 1-1). Assists-E&H 20 (Alexander 8), Roanoke 19 (Bishop 5). Rebounds-E&H 31 (Light 7), Roanoke 46 (Camara 11). Turnovers-E&H 18 (four with three), Roanoke 20 (Schrantz 5). A-1,214.
by CNB