Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 4, 1995 TAG: 9501040106
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWIGHT FOXX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Camara preserved a one-point lead when he blocked a potential game-winning shot by Lynchburg's Mike Preston with two seconds remaining as Roanoke survived a furious comeback attempt by its Old Dominion Athletic Conference rival and won 66-65 at the Bast Center Tuesday night.
Roanoke (8-1) appeared to have the game in hand when guard Jason Bishop stole an inbounds pass and scored on a layup to give the Maroons a nine-point lead, 65-56, with 4 minutes, 35 seconds remaining.
``This whole tournament, we've been playing in stretches,'' Camara said. ``Even when we got up by nine points, I was still weary.''
It was a good thing he kept his mind in the game because Lynchburg was relentless. The Hornets forced two Roanoke turnovers and received back-to-back conventional three-point plays by Ahmad Smalls and Turk Smith to pull within three, 65-62, with 3:08 remaining.
A layup by Lynchburg's Rodney Early cut the lead to 65-64 with 1:28 remaining.
After Maroon forward A.J. Hamlin hit the front end of a two-shot free-throw situation with 1:06 remaining, Lynchburg had a chance to tie with 49 seconds remaining.
But Hornet forward Otis Tucker made only one of two free throws to cut the Hornets' deficit to 66-65.
Roanoke called a timeout with 36 seconds remaining to set its offensive strategy. But it went to no avail when it was called for a five-second violation, returning the ball to Lynchburg.
The Maroons' Bishop nearly forced a turnover when he knocked the ball loose from Hornets point guard Goggin Latney. Latney recovered and called a timeout with five seconds remaining.
When play resumed, Lynchburg came out in a three-guard set. Early drove past a Roanoke defender, but Camara was waiting and made the game-saving block to preserve Roanoke's eighth win in nine games.
Camara said coach Page Moir told him to guard the basket and watch for a potential lob play.
``I was lucky enough that the guy came right at me,'' the 6-foot-6 junior said.
He said as he went for the block he was thinking of only one thing: ``Don't foul him.''
And he didn't. Both Camara and guard Akil Stewart, the tourney's most valuable player, said winning the tournament without leading scorer Bryant Lee and reserve guard Nathan Hungate, gave the team a boost of confidence.
Hungate, a freshman guard from Northside, was suspended for two games by Moir for violating a team policy. Hungate will rejoin the team today.
``No matter what team we face, we can handle it,'' Stewart said. ``Everybody stepped up; I was just the lucky one to get it [MVP].''
Stewart scored 11 of his game-high 20 points in a span of 2:21 that helped the Maroons build their nine-point lead.
Lynchburg coach Joe Davis was pleased with his team's comeback efforts and said the game should help his team as it prepares for ODAC play.
``It answered a lot of our questions,'' Davis said. ``We've progressed a whole lot. If any advantage was gained, it has to go to us because we know we can compete now.''
Coach Moir thought of his missing star player and why the tournament was being held at the game's conclusion.
``It was a lot of fun,'' Moir said of the tournament. ``The death of Bryan's father [of brain cancer] is another example of why we need more money for cancer research.''
THIRD-PLACE GAME: Alfred (2-5) defeated Muhlenberg (5-5) 61-53 in the third-place game.
The Saxons held the Mules to no field goals during two five-minute stretches of the second half and only one field goal during an 11-minute stretch in which the Mules had cut their deficit from 10, 39-29, to one, 47-46, on two free throws by Mike Queenan with 11:20 remaining.
Muhlenberg's Mike Cramer was the game's high scorer and rebounder with 23 points and 14 rebounds. Alfred nailed 8-of-14 three-point attempts, including 7-of-13 in the first half, in building a 10-point lead to offset Cramer's efforts.
The Mules shot an horrendous 2-for-22, 1-for-16 (.063) in the second half, from three-point range.
NOTES: In a charity matchup between local doctors, the Sawbones, and lawyers, the Jawbones, the Sawbones avenged last year's defeat with a 19-18 victory. The Sawbones also raised the most money for cancer research - $1,238 to the Jawbones' $436. The total of $1,674 goes to the American Cancer Society. An additional $1,811 was raised from the raffles. ... The All-Tournament team consisted of Roanoke's Stewart and A.J. Hamlin; Lynchburg's Rodney Early and Otis Tucker; Muhlenberg's Mike Gramer; and Alfred's Jason Amore.
by CNB