ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 4, 1996 TAG: 9601040076
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
Roanoke College never has lost a game in three editions of the Domino's Lewis-Gale Classic. If it shoots as well as it did Wednesday night at the Bast Center, that streak could continue for a long time.
The Maroons made 15 of 27 field-goal attempts in each half and easily outdistanced Gettysburg College 89-65 in the kind of game that has typified their season.
Roanoke didn't score 90 points, as it had done in five of the seven games this season, but it came as close as possible.
``We were very rusty and we didn't execute well offensively,'' said coach Page Moir, whose team had not played since Dec.7, ``but we made up by shooting the ball extremely well.''
The same could not be said for the Bullets from the Pennsylvania battlefields. Their shots were strewn all over the rim and backboard, but not often enough in the net. Gettysburg shot 29 percent in the first half and 34 percent for the game.
``We were shooting the ball [well] in our three practices this week, in our shootaround today and in the pregame,'' said George Petrie, the Bullets' coach. ``At game time, we couldn't make a shot.''
Consequently, this one went like so many other recent Roanoke games. The Maroons (7-1) made seven of their first nine shots while Gettysburg (5-4) missed eight of 11. It was already 17-6 in Roanoke's favor when the Bullets called time out with 12:46 to go.
It was 39-22 and Gettysburg was gaining confidence when one of its leaders, Anthony Toner, was called for a foul and then a technical. It gave Toner, the Bullets' second-leading scorer, four fouls with 1:48 to go in the first half.
``That hurt us mentally, and it hurt Anthony mentally,'' Petrie said.
Although the Bullets went on an 8-0 run to begin the second half, they then missed four consecutive shots and the Maroons moved to their biggest lead to that point, 59-32.
Moir said he was worried at the time, but credited point guard Nathan Hungate for pulling the team out of its brief funk.
``He wasn't the guy making crazy passes out there,'' Moir said. ``He did some good things that don't show up on a stat sheet.''
Hungate's stats wound up showing seven points, seven assists and two rebounds after he sat out much of the first half with three fouls. Jason Bishop shook off the last remains of a flu bug before tip-off, then chipped in 15 points. Derek Bryant also had 15 points and Jon Maher had 14.
Gettysburg did not test the Maroons as they had expected, and Moir said he looks at that as a positive.
``We haven't tried to duck people,'' he said. ``I'm hoping, in some cases, that we're that good.''
Menlo College, one of two NCAA Division III schools in northern California, is the tournament's mystery team considering it plays a primarily NAIA and NCAA Division II schedule. The Oaks (5-6) may have taken Jersey City State, the No.8 team in the Atlantic Region, by surprise with an excruciatingly patient offense and sticky interior defense to win 73-70 in the other first-round game.
Menlo tripped the taller Gothic Knights 73-70 to advance to tonight's championship game against the Maroons.
The Oaks, making their first trip east, pulled away in the second half by switching from a slow-paced set offense and getting some easy baskets off of Jersey City State's press. Scott MacDonald led Menlo (5-6) with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Jason Schwerdt had 16 points and 11 boards.
The tournament's consolation game begins at 5:30 p.m. today with Menlo and Roanoke tipping off for the title at 7:30.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 linesby CNB