Roanoke Times

& World-News

Sports: Sunday, March 17, 1996

• LATE SEASON HUNTERS MAY HAVE BEST SHOT AT TURKEYS
• HICKS TAKING IT 1 YEAR AT A TIME
• JABLONSKI PLAYING LIKE FUTURE IS NOW
• IT'S BASKETBALL HEAVEN
• A WIN WOULD GET COLONIALS OUT OF VIRGINIA'S SHADOW
• RADFORD RIPS TECH 14-7 IN BASEBALL
• WHICH UNC TEAM WILL SHOW UP FOR TODAY'S GAME?
• LIBERTY WINS STATE CROWN MINUTEMEN COACH SEES RED IN 53-50 GROUP AA VICTORY OVER LAKELAND
• MINUTEMEN SURVIVE LONG, COLD WINTER
• MASSEY WINS MILLER 300 POLE
• TITANS DOOM DIPLOMATS
• OUTMANNED HOKIES BOW OUT KENTUCKY PULLS AWAY WITH BIG HALF
• WAKE ADDED TO SCHEDULE
• TECH TRIO GIVES IT ALL IN SETBACK
• PATIENT PROFS FINALLY WIN ROWAN TAKES DIVISION III CROWN 100-93 |WAYNE DEEL/STAFF BY DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER FOUR YEARS AGO, TERRENCE STEWART DECIDED TO GO TO ROWAN COLLEGE, NEVER THINKING THIS WOULD HAPPEN. ONE YEAR AGO, ANTWAN DASHER AND ROSCOE HARRIS DECIDED TO FINISH THEIR BASKETBALL CAREERS AT ROWAN BECAUSE THEY KNEW IT WOULD. THE PROFS WON THE DIVISION III NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY NIGHT, DEFEATING HOPE COLLEGE 100-93 AT THE SALEM CIVIC CENTER. THE 3,944 WITNESSES MADE UP THE THIRD-LARGEST AUDIENCE EVER FOR A DIVISION III TITLE GAME. IT WAS THE THIRD TRIP TO THE FINAL FOUR IN THE PAST THREE YEARS FOR DR. JOHN GIANNINI'S TEAM, BUT THE FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE PROFS (28-4). ``I HAVEN'T REALIZED IT YET, BUT IT MAY BE THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF A LIFETIME,'' GIANNINI SAID. ROWAN HAD TO OVERCOME AN AMAZING 39-POINT BARRAGE OF 3-POINT GOALS FROM HOPE'S JOEL HOLSTEGE BEFORE STEWART COULD ENJOY HIS LATEST, GREATEST AND PERHAPS LAST BASKETBALL ACHIEVEMENT. ``I THINK I'M AN OVERACHIEVER,'' SAID STEWART, WHO ADDED 17 POINTS AND THE TOURNAMENT MVP AWARD TO HIS ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER STATUS AT ROWAN. ``I WAS BASICALLY BROUGHT IN AS A DEFENSIVE STOPPER. I NEVER EXPECTED TO BE THE ALL-TIME LEADING SCORER.'' HE DIDN'T EXPECT TO GO TO THREE FINAL FOURS IN FOUR YEARS, BUT THAT HAPPENED, TOO. ALL THE SUCCESS AND GOOD WILL HE'S CREATED - LIKE BEING ONE OF THE FEW STEADFAST SUPPORTERS OF THE PROFS' WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SQUAD - HAVE MADE HIM ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR MEN ON THE GLASSBORO, N.J., CAMPUS. ``THEY SAY I'M A FAN FAVORITE,'' HE SAID. STILL, FOR ALL OF HIS GOOD WORKS, HE AND THE PROFS HADN'T WON THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. ENTER DASHER AND HARRIS. NEIGHBORS IN THE JERSEY CITY PROJECTS, THIRD-GRADE BUDDIES AT P.S. NO.9, HIGH SCHOOL TEAMMATES, DASHER AND HARRIS HAD BEEN THROUGH IT ALL TOGETHER UNTIL COLLEGE. AT THAT POINT, HARRIS LEFT TOWN TO PLAY AT VILLANOVA AND DASHER HEADED TO FAIRLEIGH-DICKINSON, BOTH DIVISION I PROGRAMS. BUT AFTER SPENDING ONE YEAR AWAY FROM BASKETBALL AS VICTIMS OF PROPOSITION 48, THEY HAD DIFFERENTSORTS OF SUCCESS; DASHER MAKING ALL-CONFERENCE THREE TIMES AND HARRIS BACKING UP KERRY KITTLES FOR THREE YEARS. THEIR DIVISION I ELIGIBILITY RAN OUT, HOWEVER, SEEMINGLY LEAVING THEIR PLAYING DAYS IN THE PAST. THE RULES OF DIVISION III, HOWEVER, ALLOWED THEM ANOTHER YEAR TO PLAY. IT WAS JUST UP TO THEM. ``THEY TOLD US WE COULD PLAY ANOTHER YEAR,'' SAID DASHER, AN ALL-TOURNAMENT SELECTION. ``AT FIRST, I SAID `NAH.' I FELT LIKE I WAS DEGRADING MYSELF BY DROPPING DOWN. BUT THEN I LOOKED AT IT MORE AND I KNEW WE'D HAVE A GOOD SHOT TO WIN IT ALL. ``THEY HAD GOTTEN HERE WITHOUT US, BUT THEY'D NEVER WON IT. ONE OF OUR GOALS WAS NOT JUST GETTING THERE, WE WANTED TO WIN IT.'' THEIR DEDICATION TO THAT GOAL PAID OFF SATURDAY NIGHT. ``THEY ARE OUTSTANDING PLAYERS WHO HAD A LOT OF OPTIONS,'' SAID GIANNINI. ``THEY TRULY PUT WINNING AHEAD OF ANYTHING ELSE.'' THEY HAD TO WITHSTAND A SECOND-HALF DEFICIT AND AN INCREDIBLE LATE RALLY TOPULL IT OFF. THE FLYING DUTCHMEN (27-5) WENT AHEAD 60-58 ON A 10-FOOT JUMPER BY CENTER DUANE BOSMA WITH 15:22 LEFT TO PLAY. SIX MINUTES LATER, HOWEVER, ROWAN WAS UP BY SEVEN AND PUSHED IT TO 11 WITH 52 SECONDS LEFT. ``TO COME BACK, WE NEEDED THE THREES,'' SAID HOLSTEGE, AN ALL-TOURNAMENT SELECTION. ``TWOS WEREN'T GOING TO DO IT.'' HOLSTEGE THEN HIT THREE STRAIGHT 3-POINTERS TO MAKE THE PROFS NERVOUS. ``AT 10 SECONDS LEFT, I WAS REALLY CONCERNED THE UNEXPECTED COULD HAPPEN,''
• LADY VOLS CRUSH RADFORD FROM STAFF AND ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS
• TYSON TKOS BRUNO IN 3 REGAINS PART OF HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE WITH WIN
• BIETTE'S TWO GOALS LIFT EXPRESS ROANOKE SURPRISES CHARLOTTE 5-4
• VIRGINIA WESTERN FALLS SHORT