Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 25, 1995 TAG: 9501250083
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NARROWS LENGTH: Medium
But that's what Narrows did when Patrick Bailey fouled Terry Millirons of Auburn as time was expiring Tuesday night in the raucous Green Wave gym.
Millirons, a cool-headed senior forward, looked like the player with four years of starting experience he is when he made the second of two shots to deliver a 69-68 non-district victory with no time showing on the clock.
``After he missed the first one, I walked up to the scorekeeper and said, `Nice game, wasn't it?''' Auburn coach Kevin Harris said. ``That's how confident I was Terry was going to make the shot.
``He had 1,316 career points coming into tonight and I don't know how many of those are free throws. But if you can't count on somebody with 1,316 points to make a free throw to win a game for you, who can you count on?''
Actually, make that 1,332 points for Millirons after his Tuesday night labors. The really important numbers for Auburn, though, were its 9-4 record and the 17-point third quarter lead it almost blew against the churned-up Wave.
It was a hard one to swallow for Bailey, who had scored nine of his 29 points in the fourth quarter. The last two of those, which came despite some apparent contact in the lane, tied the score at 68 with 18 seconds left.
``We'd fought our guts to get back into the game,'' said Todd Lusk, the Narrows coach. ``And then to have it taken from us like that at the end. I bet nobody in that gym paid to see that call be made.
``But give Millirons credit. He went up there with all those people screaming and nobody else there but him and made the shot. He's a good player. Good players will make those shots.''
It was one more wild night for Auburn, which at times looked like the best team in Southwestern Virginia and other times the worst. The good prevailed for the better part of three quarters, the bad and ugly in the fourth.
``They were beating us down the floor in the first half and getting easy shots and it started to happen again in the second half,'' Lusk said. ``I saw about as much of that as I could stand and I put in our quick lineup and started to press all over the floor.''
Down sat starters Norman Perkins and Scott Vaught, and in came Cody Chambers and Brandon Hollie to go on the attack. That group forced seven Auburn turnovers in the fourth quarter as Narrows scrambled back.
``We played like crap in the fourth quarter,'' said Auburn point guard Bradley Hudgins, another four-year starter. ``Four of those turnovers were mine. I don't know what the problem was.''
Turnovers were the death of the Eagles because when they did get into the offense, they were effective. Jon Reed, Timesland's leading scorer, was held to two under his average but he still had 23. Forward Kenny Wojiechowski added 15 points and Hudgins had 11.
Narrows, by contrast, was relying almost entirely on Bailey and Bryan Pruett, who scored 19 points and was all over the floor during the comeback.
``They all took this hard,'' Lusk said of his team.
by CNB