ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 18, 1996 TAG: 9602190129
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
THE SENIOR FORWARD scores 19 points to fill in for a backcourt neutralized by Virginia Tech's defenseas UMass wins 74-58.
Marcus Camby wasn't the only bright spot for Massachusetts. Donta Bright picked his spots, too.
With Camby spending a comfortable afternoon in Cassell Coliseum padding his player of the year resume, Bright may have been just as responsible for helping the top-ranked Minutemen run their record to 25-0 with a 74-58 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Even as Camby was stealing the show with his 31-point, 10-rebound performance, Bright, a senior forward, was contributing a much-needed 19 points. Through the game's first 35 minutes, 48 seconds, Camby and Bright combined for 49 of the Minutemen's 56 points.
``That's the key to the UMass team,'' said Tech forward Shawn Smith. ``You come into the game knowing Camby's going to get his 20 to 25 points. You have to try to stop everybody else. Bright stepped up his game today.''
Bright, like all five UMass starters, has a double-digit scoring average (15.4 ppg). On Saturday, only he and Camby scored more than 10 points.
The Hokies elected to play straight man-to-man, allowing Camby to do his damage but neutralizing the dangerous UMass backcourt of Edgar Padilla and Carmelo Travieso.
The Puerto Rican natives had the door slammed in their face by Tech's defense, as they made only three shots from the field and combined for 16 points, more than five points below their combined average. Travieso (Spanish for ``menace''), whose 63 3-pointers lead the Atlantic 10, was menaced by Tech's guards and went 0-for-2 beyond the arc.
``They were taking Carmelo away in our transition,'' said Bright. ``Our game plan is always to get everyone involved. That's how we try to play. If they take something away, someone else has to step up. It's a total team effort.''
And Bright played a total game by making seven of his 10 shots and yanking down six rebounds with his slashing moves to the hoop.
``Bright is as good a finisher, if not the best finisher, in the country,'' said UMass coach John Calipari.
The way Bright started was just as important as the way he finished.
Camby and Bright had 29 of the Minutemen's 33 first-half points. Several Tech players tried to guard Bright, including forward Ace Custis, who also spent time covering Camby.
Still, Bright scored seven points in the last 6:54 of the half by swooping inside and using his long reach to shoot over defenders.
Bright ``played great today,'' said Camby. ``When the shot clock runs down, he can back his man up and shoot right over the top. It's hard to block his shot, [because] his arms are so long.''
Even without their usual scoring, the guards contributed down the stretch. Padilla, who was a 40-Minuteman on Saturday, knocked down a 3-pointer - his only field goal - to make it 56-44 with 4:44 to play. Travieso was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final 1:23.
``Edgar's got the heart of a tiger,'' said Bright. ``He hit the big 3 and Carmelo made the big free throws.''
Plus, Padilla did an effective job of running the offense, as UMass used screens to get open, close-range shots. The Minutemen shot 58 percent from the field.
UMass also held the Hokies to a season-low 36.2 percent shooting with a man-to-man defense that forced out Tech's offense. When they did get it inside, the Hokies seemed more concerned about getting their shots blocked than sticking them.
``Defense won the ballgame,'' said Bright. ``You can bank on defense. We're not going to shoot well every night, but we can give 100 percent on defense.''
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. ALAN KIM/Staff UMass center Marcus Camby (right) andby CNBguard Carmelo Travieso (left) put pressure on Tech's Myron
Guillory.
2. ALAN KIM/Staff Tech's Shawn Smith looks to pass the ball around
UMass' Tyrone Weeks. KEYWORDS: BASKETBALL