Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 5, 1995 TAG: 9502080021
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Roanoke was outscored by only eight points in the second half. But it was the manner in which the Maroons were outscored that made it so painful.
Hampden-Sydney's Brent Schneider and Nate Schwab opened the second half by scoring 19 straight points in a 19-5 run that sent the Maroons to their first loss of the season at the Bast Center, 92-74.
The victory upped the Tigers' road record to 13-0 this season and made coach Tony Shaver the all-time winningest coach in Hampden-Sydney history.
``I was impressed, I'll tell you that,'' Shaver said of the run that turned a 43-33 halftime lead into a 62-38 advantage with 14 minutes, 23 seconds remaining.
Schneider had three 3-pointers and scored 10 straight at one point. He finished with 13 points. Schwab, the ODAC's fifth leading scorer, had 15 points and seven rebounds.
``Basically, the game ended with 15 minutes to play in the second half,'' said Page Moir, Roanoke's coach. ``... We got caught watching a good team instead of competing against them.''
It was just a week ago that the Maroons (13-7 overall, 8-6 ODAC) handed the Tigers (18-2, 13-1) their only league loss 73-63 in Farmville. But Hampden-Sydney played that game without Schwab and three others who were suspended for violating team training rules.
Tee Jennings, Hampden-Sydney's 5-foot-5 speedy guard from William Fleming High School, also missed the first matchup with a sprained right ankle.
Jennings had 11 points, six assists and three steals Saturday for the Tigers, who led by 31 points in the second half.
``Having Tee and Nate in the game did make a difference, there's no doubt,'' Shaver said. ``To have that added depth, more fresh bodies, it helps.''
Moir said the difference was the level of intensity.
``We just didn't maintain the effort level that we did before,'' he said. ``They were playing good defense and we ended up taking some bad shots.''
Moir used 13 players - including a number of combinations dominated by freshmen and sophomores - but no five seemed to find a rhythm.
``That shouldn't happen this time of year,'' Moir said. ``But when things start going wrong, shots aren't falling, you tend to start thinking too much instead of letting things happen naturally.''
Bryant Lee, Roanoke's senior forward, said inexperience was a factor, but not an excuse for the loss.
``I would look out on the floor and it would almost seem like my freshman year [when the Maroons were 15-11 overall], having two sophomores or two freshman out there at anytime,'' said Lee, who finished with a team-high 15 points and seven rebounds.
``Today, basically, they took it to us and we sat there and watched. None of us stepped up to the challenge,'' Lee said.
Junior center Steve Camara had 12 points and was the only other Roanoke player in double figures.
The Tigers opened up a 25-16 lead midway through the first half on strong inside play by forwards Jason Leonard and Schwab, who combined for 14 points in the opening period.
The Maroons got the lead back with two Akil Stewart 3-pointers sandwiched around two baskets by sophomore center Tim Braun.
The lead changed hands six times in the first half before Elson DeVan put the Tigers up for good with a pair of free throws that made it 27-26 with 6:40 to play.
Hampden-Sydney closed out the half with a 16-7 run that included back-to-back 3-pointers by Jennings, who was 3-for-3 from behind the arc.
Senior guard Todd Kerr added 12 points and six assists and Bryan Sheridan had 13 points for the Tigers, who have clinched at least a share of the ODAC title.
Shaver, who played and coached under Dean Smith at North Carolina, improved his nine-year record at Hampden-Sydney to 157-78. He surpassed Bill Pegram (1960-71) and Don Thompson (1974-85), both of whom had 156 coaching victories.
The Maroons finish the regular season with four straight home games and are battling Bridgewater, Randolph-Macon and Emory & Henry for second place in the conference.
by CNB