ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 23, 1997 TAG: 9701230058
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
Georgia Tech gets Virginia's vote.
The Cavaliers, who have lost five games this season to teams ranked in the Associated Press top 10, got one of their toughest fights from the only ACC team with a losing record.
Virginia seemingly had no answer for Georgia Tech junior Matt Harpring, but came from behind in the last 31/2 minutes Wednesday night to defeat the Yellow Jackets 68-64.
Harpring tied his season high with 29 points - and thought he had 30 - but senior point guard Harold Deane bailed out the Cavaliers by scoring or assisting on six points in the final 42.2 seconds.
Deane, who had missed two free throws following a two-shot foul, put Virginia ahead 66-62 when he hit both ends of a one-and-one with 18.7 seconds left. He then had words for Harpring as the teams broke for a timeout.
``I just told him, `You fouled the wrong guy,''' said Deane, who played 39 minutes on a sore right shin that had him limping badly at times. ``I wasn't going to miss those.
``I'm not the kind of guy to harp on a missed free throw. When the game's on the line, I would never miss two free throws. If there's no time on the clock and we need two free throws, I want to shoot 'em.''
Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins said the Yellow Jackets (7-9 overall, 1-5 ACC) had no intention of fouling Deane, but he was unable to get his players' attention during a 20-second timeout with 21.7 seconds left.
The Yellow Jackets thought they had closed to 64-63 on an apparent 3-point basket by Harpring, but official Frank Scagliotta said Harpring had a foot on the line and had the score changed during the timeout.
``I felt we were down one point and I said guys, `Here's what we're going to do,''' Cremins said. ``We kind of lost it there. We had just about come out of the huddle.
``Frank's a great official. I really respect him. If he saw it, he saw it. If he's right, then I'm proud of him. I asked Matt, `What do you think?' He said, `Coach, I feel certain I was behind the line.'''
Georgia Tech pulled to 66-64 on a tip-in by Michael Maddox with 10 seconds left, but UVa (12-6, 3-4) got the ball to Deane on the ensuing inbounds play and he fed Norman Nolan for a breakaway dunk.
Deane is ``not as mobile as he normally would be,'' UVa coach Jeff Jones said, ``but he was tough enough to come up with the loose balls, to come catch the ball when we needed him to catch it. We knew we wanted the ball in his hands.''
It was Jones' hope that Deane would be in good shape after sitting out a one-game NCAA suspension, but Deane was limping noticeably from a sore shin that has plagued him for the past month.
``I think Harold really gutted it out,'' Jones said. ``If the Wake Forest game was the most painful his shin has been, then this probably surpassed it. We're not a real healthy basketball team right now.''
And the Cavaliers didn't get any healthier Wednesday night. Courtney Alexander, Virginia's leading scorer, fell to the floor with 10 seconds remaining after suffering an injury to his left ankle.
``Same ankle, same mechanism,'' said UVa trainer Ethan Saliba, referring to an ankle injury that caused Alexander to miss three games in December.
Alexander had one field goal in the second half, but it was a big one. His fadeaway over Harpring gave the Cavaliers the lead for good after they had squandered an eight-point second-half lead.
As usual, the Cavaliers were happy they had Deane, who had played in 138 consecutive games - every game in his college career - before the NCAA ruled him ineligible to play against Duke on Saturday night.
``It really was tough watching that game, because I had never been in that predicament before,'' Deane said. ``I needed some rest for my shin, but that's not the way I wanted to get it.'' NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 74 linesby CNB