ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 19, 1996 TAG: 9612190083
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
Liberty center Peter Aluma should be happy he doesn't have to come to University Hall again.
Aluma, whose 6-foot-10, 260-pound presence helped attract three NBA scouts, had one field goal Monday night as the Flames fell to Virginia 67-54.
Liberty (7-2) trimmed a 16-point halftime deficit to four and was able to make UVa play its regulars despite minimal production from Aluma, who finished with five points, none in the second half.
In that regard, it was a virtual repeat of the 1995 game between the teams, when Aluma was 1-for-7 from the field in a 76-48 loss. This time, he was 1-for-8 and contributed only three rebounds, none after intermission.
``It was somewhat revealing early on when we were getting the ball to Pete and he wasn't really effective,'' said Jeff Meyer, Liberty's coach. ``Virginia did a good job of recognizing he likes to put the ball on the floor and took that away from him.''
It was the first game in 11 days for Virginia (5-2) and the Cavaliers were predictably spotty. They never led by more than 15 after Liberty scored the first four points of the second half.
``This was a game where we certainly could have played better,'' said Jeff Jones, UVa's coach. ``I characterized it to the team as a wasted opportunity. We did a lot of spinning our wheels out there.''
The Cavaliers got a game-high 20 points and 11 rebounds out of sophomore Courtney Alexander, but his status for games Saturday with Maryland-Baltimore County and Monday at Connecticut was uncertain after a late-game injury.
Alexander attempted a 3-pointer that was just swishing through the net when he went sliding off the court in agony from an apparent sprain of his left foot. To make matters worse, it was ruled the shot clock had expired before the shot.
``Ethan [Saliba] said the immediate prognosis is not good for him to be in action Thursday or Friday,'' Jones said after consulting with UVa's trainer. ``He will undergo precautionary X-rays and start three-a-day treatments.''
Virginia was unable to duplicate its 14-0 start from last year's game with the Flames, not that it didn't have the opportunity. The Cavaliers made only four of their first nine shots, but still led 8-0 before Liberty got on the board.
``This is the third time I've been up here and I feel like a recorder,'' Meyer said. ``We came out very tentative. I was disappointed we didn't have more of an aggressive mind-set.''
The Flames seemed determined to work the ball inside to Aluma, but didn't enjoy much success until guards Marcus White, Peter Jackson and Gabriel Caldwell started shooting from outside.
Liberty cut an 11-point deficit to six, at 27-21 with less than four minutes left in the half, but a forceful dunk by Norman Nolan off an offensive rebound got the Cavaliers started on a 10-0 run that blew open the game.
Liberty, down 39-23 at the half, scored baskets on its first two possessions of the second half and caused Jones to call a timeout with 18:35 remaining. More long-range shooting got the Flames as close as 43-39 with less than 15 minutes left.
``One of our strengths is, when Peter is not effective, we have a backcourt we can go to,'' Meyer said. ``But, it's a little bit of fool's gold. You still need some baskets from the man in the middle.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines KEYWORDS: BASKETBALLby CNB