ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 12, 1997 TAG: 9701140017
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LEXINGTON
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
VMI'S BASKETBALL TEAM is beaten decisively on the boards and on the scoreboard.
Looking for an explanation for VMI's 91-76 loss to Tennessee-Chattanooga on Saturday? Grab a stat sheet and look for the other category that UT-C won by 15 besides the score - rebounds.
Oh, those blasted rebounds. It's one thing to be outshot. It's another to be kicked on the glass. Where have you gone Lester Johnson? Our team turns its glassy eyes to you.
On Wednesday at Richmond, the Keydets were outrebounded 56-33, with a 23-7 deficit on the offensive boards. Sure enough, against UT-C, the Keydets were outrebounded 46-31, with a 19-12 deficit on the offensive boards.
``Today, a lot of times we were boxing out and the ball seemed like it was going straight to their hands, like they had magnets or something,'' said Chris DiNunzio, a freshman center for VMI.
The way the game went in the second half, it was almost as if the Moccasins had something rigged up for rebounds. UT-C began the period with a 14-4 run that put them up 50-42 with 17:22 to play.
Then, rebound by rebound, stick-back after stick-back, VMI (4-9) watched its second Southern Conference loss materialize. The Mocs (8-7 overall, 2-0 Southern Conference) had five field goals in the next four minutes. All of them came after offensive rebounds. UT-C scored after 15 of its 19 offensive rebounds.
``We've been rebounding the ball really well,'' said Mocs coach Mack McCarthy, a Covington native and 1974 Virginia Tech graduate. UT-C leads the conference in rebounding margin (plus-9.7 per game), and Thursday at Furman the Moccasins outrebounded the Paladins 46-29.
Asked how he's gotten his team to rebound so well, McCarthy said, ``You don't coach it, you recruit it.''
Bart Bellairs, VMI's coach, has done that, too. DiNunzio is 6 feet 9, 225 pounds. Eric Mann is 6-9. Brent Conley is a burly 6-7. But DiNunzio and Mann are freshmen and Conley is a sophomore who, out of necessity, has played center for the past two games.
Two of the Mocs' top rebounders, Marquis Collier and Johnny Taylor, are seniors. Taylor is considered an NBA project. Collier lost 40 pounds before the season, yet still stands 6-8 and weighs 225 pounds. He can bang.
``I thought we had a little advantage in size,'' McCarthy said.
One of VMI's smallest players turned out to be its best Saturday. Darryl Faulkner, a 6-1 point guard, scored a career-high 21 points and nearly shot the Keydets back into the game late in the second half. Bellairs had no problem allowing the junior to set the half-court offense and leaving the ball and VMI's fate in his left (shooting) hand. Faulkner said it was the most confident he had felt shooting and handling the ball this season.
``That's the Darryl of old,'' Bellairs said.
We're talking distant past here. It's been two seasons since Faulkner last suited up for the Keydets. In the meantime, he attended Prince George's (Md.) Community College while trying to get his grades in as good a shape as his game. He returned to a crowded backcourt this past fall, but has been a great fit, nevertheless.
``There were a lot of obstacles to get back in,'' Faulkner said. ``Getting in [to VMI] is not as hard as getting back in.''
Faulkner is third on the team in scoring (13.5 points per game) and second in the conference in steals (2.3 per game).
A few more rebounds would be nice, but that goes for everybody on the team. VMI has lost its past five games and has been outrebounded in three of them.
``It's something we're working on; believe me, we're working on it,'' Bellairs said. ``Tomorrow's practice will be about 50 percent boxing out.''
That's fine, say the Keydets. Getting outrebounded is bad enough. Getting outrebounded and losing is miserable.
``Some games I've scored a few points, and some games I've had a few rebounds,'' DiNunzio said. ''I'd rather have the rebounds, personally.
``Next game, I don't care if I have to go over their backs, I'm going to get the ball.''
see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 79 linesby CNB