ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 5, 1996 TAG: 9601050074
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
If the Roanoke men's basketball team is as well-rounded in the classroom as it is on the court, picking the All-ODAC Academic team should be well, academic.
The normally high-scoring Maroons chose to display their defensive prowess Thursday night in the championship of the Domino's Lewis-Gale Classic at the Bast Center and rolled to a 78-54 victory over Menlo (Calif.) College.
``Gettysburg didn't shoot well last night, and we didn't shoot tonight,'' said Menlo coach Al Klein in assessing Roanoke's two tourney opponents. ``They do a nice job of rotating after help.''
The Maroons (8-1) have not lost a regular-season tournament game at home since 1991 and are riding a win streak of 17 such games.
It was Roanoke's second-lowest scoring output of the season (it scored 73 points in its loss to Virginia Wesleyan).
``We had good shots, but we had some tough layups, and our open [jump shots] didn't drop,'' said Maroons coach Page Moir. ``I think we played pretty good defense on them.''
Roanoke forced Menlo into 15 turnovers in the first half, 23 for the game, and held the Oaks without a point for three important minutes of the second half to pull away to a 61-39 lead with 6:51 to play.
The Maroons couldn't become unbalanced if they had the U.S. Congress running the team. With four players averaging in double-figure scoring for the season, Roanoke got an extra boost from Franklin County High School graduate Derek Bryant and high-flying Courtney Fitch.
Bryant was 4-of-6 from 3-point range and scored 13 points while making the all-tournament team. Fitch helped the Maroons stretch the lead during the Menlo drought with a big steal and a pair of fancy layups.
``Almost every game, one of them is giving a lift off the bench,'' Moir said.
Guard Jason Bishop also made the all-tournament team, and Maroons center and Blacksburg High graduate Jon Maher earned MVP honors with seven points, 15 rebounds and two assists. He had 21 points and 26 rebounds in two games.
Maher said piling up stats isn't difficult when you play on a team like Roanoke. ``We have 12 guys that can score every night and move the ball around and pass well,'' he said.
The only disappointing facet of the night was the attendance. There were 100 people in the stands for the Thursday's early game and 500 at most for the final. Moir expected a sizable crowd, if anything for a chance to win or auction off some impressive autographed sports memorabilia.
``It's a little disappointing,'' Moir said. ``I think we have a solid fan base. Where else can you get that kind of memorabilia outside of the Hall of Fame?''
Jersey City State left with very little memorabilia after losing the consolation game to Gettysburg 96-75. Jersey City coach Charles Brown sat six of his top seven players until the second half because they had skipped Thursday morning's breakfast and shootaround.
But the Gothic Knights didn't leave empty handed. JCSC sports information director John Stalling had his ticket pulled in the drawing for a $3,000 copy machine.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 linesby CNB