ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 22, 1996 TAG: 9612230157
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: STATE
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS
Brian Williams sparked a late run to lead 20th-ranked Alabama to a 72-69 victory over Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday in Birmingham, Ala., giving the Crimson Tide a 10-0 record for the first time in 20 seasons.
Williams made seven of eight free throws and a 3-pointer in the last three minutes as Alabama closed the game with a 13-5 run. Williams finished with 18 points to help Tide coach David Hobbs beat his alma mater and the school where he worked as an assistant for six years before coming to Alabama as an assistant under Wimp Sanderson in 1986.
``We worked long and hard to get to the point where we could win 10 straight and we're happy about that,'' Williams said. ``We got this because we practiced and worked real hard. It feels good.''
Alabama held a 37-33 lead at halftime, but VCU (3-4) started the second half with a 17-5 run to go ahead 50-42.
Alabama tied the score at 59 with six minutes to go, but the Rams scored five consecutive points to go back on top.
That's when Williams took over, scoring 10 points to give the Tide a six-point lead with 12 seconds left.
Trailing 72-66, Patrick Lee hit a 3-pointer for the Rams within with five seconds left. He stole the ensuing inbounds pass, dribbled to the corner and lofted a desperation shot that would have tied the score, but it bounced long off the rim.
Lee finished with 27 points, 22 in the first half.
``The first half, that doesn't mean a thing,'' Lee said. ``It boiled down to the last three minutes and we needed to step up.''
In other games involving teams and players from Virginia:
Southern Illinois 74, James Madison 67: Troy Hudson scored 22 points, and the Salukis used a 15-4 run to close the first half to pull away from the Dukes in Carbondale, Ill.
Southern Illinois (5-3) used its surge to go into the locker room leading 42-31. Hudson had two of his five 3-pointers during the run.
Charles Lott had 17 points and 16 rebounds to lead JMU (4-3).
North Carolina-Greensboro 71, Hampton 59: Derrick Nix scored a game-high 18 points as the Spartans (3-5) defeated the Pirates (0-7) in Greensboro, N.C.
Nix scored 13 of his points in the second half and had seven assists. Larry Gilbert and Jeremy Davis each added 16 points for UNC Greensboro.
Doug Belton had 14 points for Hampton, which shot 28 percent from the floor in the second half and 29.6 percent overall.
Billy Donlon had 17 points, including 12 free throws, and former Salem High School standout Mark Byington added 13 points to lead North Carolina-Wilmington to a 71-54 victory over Mississippi State in Wilmington, N.C.
Women
North Carolina-Charlotte 71, Radford 61: The Highlanders' two-game winning streak came to an end as Charlette Hargrove scored 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead the 49ers to a victory in Charlotte, N.C.
Tamika Mackey hit two free throws with 12:07 left to put UNCC (3-4) ahead 56-39. After the Niners went up 62-48, Radford (2-7) scored the next eight points - six by Kim Hairston (Bassett) - to cut its deficit to six with 4:25 to play. UNCC then took control behind a basket by Mackey and a three-point play by Hargrove.
Mackey finished with 18 points for the Niners. Kelli Tull scored 18 points, Hairston had 12 and Jennifer Grant added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Highlanders.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Alabama's Demetrius Alexander (35) battles Virginiaby CNBCommonwealth's Mylo Brooks for a rebound during Saturday's game in
Birmingham, Ala. VCU lost 72-69. KEYWORDS: BASKETBALL