Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 19, 1995 TAG: 9502210020
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The Roanoke Maroons took a step toward finding out Saturday by bullying past Guilford 95-81 in the ODAC tournament's first round at the Salem Civic Center.
The second-seeded Maroons (18-7) play No.6 Virginia Wesleyan in a semifinal at 4 p.m. today. The Marlins upset third-seeded Bridgewater 75-66 Saturday.
``[Winning the title] would make this an even better season than last year,'' said Roanoke senior Bryant Lee, referring to the Maroons' 26-2 record in 1993-94.
``Last year, we were expected to win. But nobody expects us to win this year.''
Saturday's victory helped keep alive Roanoke's hopes for a second straight trip to the NCAA Division III tournament. The ODAC tournament's winner receives an automatic bid. The Maroons also increase their chances for an at-large bid with every victory.
Jason Bishop set the tone early, scoring Roanoke's first five points.
``If I hit my first couple of shots, I know I'm going to have a good game,'' Bishop said.
The theory was right on, and the sophomore guard added 14 more points in a physical opening half. Bishop finished with a team-high 23 points on nine-of-15 shooting.
Tim Braun, a sophomore center who took most of the hits underneath, had nine points in the first half and opened the second with Roanoke's first five points, including a 3-pointer. He finished with 17 points, one shy of his career high.
Lee, double-teamed much of the night, made one of three first-half field-goal attempts. He had just three points at halftime, but Roanoke led 41-40.
``I felt like I was getting beat up,'' Lee said. ``I wanted to come out in the second half a little more aggressive.''
Lee did, scoring 10 points in an intense second half when the Maroons took charge.
Roanoke used a 21-7 run to stretch a 52-48 lead to 73-55 with 10 minutes left. Lee and Kevin Sigafoes, who finished with 11, each scored seven in the spurt.
Guilford (11-14) got no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
Freshman forward Mike Norris led the Quakers with 19 points, and Kevin Spainhour added 13. Robby Pack and Shawn Peterson, who entered the game averaging 16 points each, had 11 and 12, respectively.
Roanoke, which ranks second in the league in free-throw shooting percentage at 62 percent, was 30-of-35 from the line Saturday (86 percent).
In other games Saturday:
Virginia Wesleyan 75, Bridgewater 66: David Cohen scored a career-high 23 points, including key second-half 3-pointers, to lead the No. 6-seeded Marlins (14-11) to an upset victory over the third-seeded Eagles in the opening round.
Virginia Wesleyan (14-11) will play a semifinal game today at 4 p.m. against Roanoke, which beat Guilford 95-81.
Cohen, a senior guard, made consecutive 3-pointers that sparked an 18-6 Marlins run that turned a 34-30 lead into a 52-36 advantage with 9:39 to play.
Ryan Bradford also added a 3-pointer in the run. The freshman forward made six of eight 3-point attempts, one short of the tournament game record. He finished with 19 points.
Hampden-Sydney 76, Washington and Lee 73: The top-seeded Tigers had to rally from eight points down in the second half to beat the No. 8-seeded Generals, ending Verne Canfield's 31-year career as coach at W&L.
Hampden-Sydney advances to the semifinal round and will face fourth-seeded Emory & Henry at 2 p.m. today.
The Tigers built a 13-point lead in the first half Saturday when they shot 50 percent from the field. But the Generals used a 27-14 run to open the second half that tied the score at 53 with nine minutes, 17 seconds left in the game.
Mark Connelly scored two of his team-high 18 points to give the Generals (10-15) their first lead since a 6-5 advantage.
Hampden-Sydney's Todd Kerr scored on a jumper and Ryan Odom added a steal and a layup to put the Tigers (23-2) back up by two. But the emotionally-charged Generals scored 10 straight points to take their biggest lead, 65-57, with 6:31 remaining.
Kerr then took over for Hampden-Sydney. The senior guard scored eight of his 15 points in the next two minutes as the Tigers regained the lead 69-67 and held on for the victory.
Former William Fleming standout Tee Jennings added eight points, including two 3-pointers.
Emory & Henry 74, Randolph-Macon 54: The Wasps had no problem with the No.5 Yellow Jackets, who were without top scorer Kurt Axe.
Axe broke his left hand in Randolph-Macon's loss Wednesday to Hampden-Sydney in the regular-season finale.
Emory & Henry (13-12) was paced by Dytanyon Norman of Bassett with 22 points. Darren Wheatley added 13 points and Jason Light, a graduate of Floyd County and the ODAC's freshman of the year, had 12 points and six rebounds.
Cricker Lauderback added 10 points for E&H, and Pulaski County's Kevin Alexander added seven points and eight assists.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB