ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 5, 1996 TAG: 9612050059
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER|
After taking a good look at Virginia for its first four games, Charlie Woollum was convinced the way to play the Cavaliers was to challenge their big men.
For Woollum's William and Mary Tribe, that wasn't the way to go Wednesday night.
Junior forward Norman Nolan, coming off a lackluster performance Saturday at George Mason, responded with a career-high 22 points as 25th-ranked UVa rallied for a 75-64 victory at William and Mary Hall.
``I think in the second half, for a stretch, Norman certainly asserted himself,'' said UVa coach Jeff Jones. ``He took the ball to the basket stronger; he stopped hoping the ball would go in and actually put the ball in the basket.''
Nolan's previous high was 20 points, against No.17 Massachusetts in the Maui Invitational, but he played only 13 minutes Saturday and scored six points in the Cavaliers' 106-93 victory at George Mason.
``It was motivation for me because I knew I didn't have a good game Saturday and I wanted to come out tonight and have a good showing,'' Nolan said. ``It was important for me to hold the fort down low.''
Woollum was reluctant to give Nolan's defender any help, for fear that one of the Cavaliers' perimeter players might capitalize. Indeed, Nolan and backup Colin Ducharme had six of UVa's eight field goals in the first 17 minutes.
``I would never leave [Curtis] Staples,'' Woollum said. ``If I had it to do over, I might double down off some of the other perimeter guys. I told my staff, `If they're going to beat us, we're going to make the big guys beat us.'''
That strategy worked for 15 minutes as William and Mary, a 14-point underdog, took a 25-15 lead. David Grabuloff, a 6-foot-7 forward who began his career at Florida State, had 10 of those points.
The Tribe (3-3) led 31-26 with less than a minute remaining in the first half, but the Cavaliers scored seven points on back-to-back possessions, including a rare four-point play by Harold Deane with 29.6 seconds left.
Deane fed Staples for a 3-point field goal that put Virginia ahead 33-31 at the halftime buzzer, but that didn't prevent a locker room tirade by Jones, who still was fuming after the game.
The Cavaliers hit 16 of their first 25 shots after intermission and led 70-46 before Jones cleared his bench with 31/2 minutes left. However, William and Mary closed to 73-64 against the UVa subs.
With 35 seconds left, Jones had seen enough and sent four of his starters back into the game. Co-captain Jamal Robinson said he could not remember another time when that had happened.
``That's a bad sign,'' Robinson said. ``A real bad sign. But you should have seen him at halftime. He chewed us out pretty well. He woke us up. Man, we were terrible in the first half.''
The Cavaliers (4-1) had one turnover in the first half and seven for the game. However, the Tribe outrebounded Virginia 41-40 and got seven rebounds from 5-7 Sam Steen, which was more than any of UVa's big people managed.
That was not particularly encouraging for Jones as the Cavaliers prepare for their home opener Saturday against 12th-ranked Clemson.
``I feel good about being 4-1,'' Jones said, ``but we've got an awful long way to go. Clemson's a team, if you come out soft, they'll shove you all over the court. If we don't watch out, we might get shoved under University Hall.''
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Curtis Staples (left) and Terence Jennings ofby CNBWilliam and Mary get tangled up while jockeying for position in the
first half. Color.