Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 21, 1995 TAG: 9502210090
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
With the NCAA Division III field expanding from 40 to 64 teams next month, the ODAC began 1994-95 counting on more than its usual two NCAA berths.
In the 123rd hoops date between Hampden-Sydney and Roanoke, the Tigers won Monday night's ODAC final 65-55 at the Salem Civic Center. Those teams were correctly picked 1-2 in the preseason poll, and they're the only NCAA entrants the league expects when bids go out Sunday.
The Tigers and Maroons have traded places at the top of the ODAC since last season, but they remain the league's duo of distinction. In the past two seasons, they are a combined 86-12 when not playing each other.
That said, it's still not much of a stretch to the next three or four ODAC teams. Since 1988, when Roanoke's seven-year ODAC domination waned, six different league teams have played in the NCAA.
This will be the league's sixth straight year with two NCAA entrants, but this winter that's a disappointment.
``Without question, at the start of the season, we thought we could get three bids,'' said Emory & Henry coach Bob Johnson, the South Region representative on the Division III basketball committee.
``We think we have a good league,'' said ODAC commissioner Dan Wooldridge. ``We just spent the season beating each other up.''
Only regular-season champion Hampden-Sydney (25-2) was dominant in a league in which six of 10 men's teams played at least .500 ball. Roanoke (19-8) didn't clinch one of the South's eight NCAA berths until Sunday's ODAC semifinal victory.
The ODAC champion Tigers have a school record for victories, but do they have an opportunity to advance deeper than the Sweet 16, the stopping point for coach Tony Shaver's three previous NCAA clubs?
Who knows? Among the 324 hoops-playing schools in Division III, intersectional play is almost non-existent. The South Region stretches from Virginia to Texas, and the two sectional survivors from that field will be playing West Region clubs.
The Tigers have plenty of speed outside and their size stretches across the front line. They play with experience and smarts, and with an average of 20 wins over the past seven seasons, H-SC has to wonder how long it can keep Dean Smith protege Shaver on its sideline.
In ODAC history, only Roanoke - third place in 1983 - has reached the Division III Final Four, an event Salem will add to its NCAA championships list in 1996. That location also will add to the attention for ODAC hoops.
There's no question the ODAC and Salem would love a ``homecourt'' advantage for one of its teams when the Final Four shuffles here from Buffalo.
by CNB