ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 25, 1997 TAG: 9701270106
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BEDFORD
SOURCE: JOHN A. MONTGOMERY STAFF WRITER
``If there's a better point guard-shooting guard combination in the state, I haven't seen it,'' said Liberty basketball coach Mark Hanks.
Hanks was referring to the stars of Timesland's top-ranked team, juniors Robert Carson and Raymond Arrington, who scored exactly half of their squad's points in a 76-58 victory against Heritage Friday night.
The win was particularly important in the Seminole District race, as Liberty (13-1 overall, 7-0 district) improved its lead to two games over the Pioneers (13-2, 5-2). Heritage has beaten everyone it has faced this year except the Minutemen.
``Tonight's game definitely had a playoff atmosphere,'' Heritage coach Mike Baber said. ``We'd like to get another shot at them in the district tournament.''
The contest, played at a frenetic pace in front of a full house at Liberty's gym, kept most of the players and fans breathless throughout. The teams combined to turn over the ball 48 times (Heritage committed 28 turnovers), but they still managed to get off 115 shots.
The first timeout of the game came at 3:10 of the second period, and only because Liberty sophomore Brandon Mills called it as he was falling out of bounds with the ball.
``It's kind of our mission to wear people down,'' Hanks said. ``If we get turnovers in the process, fine. But we didn't play our best offensive game tonight.''
Liberty made 27 of 57 field-goal attempts, slightly better than Heritage's 24 of 58.
``When you make as many turnovers as we did tonight, you can't expect to win,'' Baber said. ``Of course, Liberty caused some of those turnovers.''
Arrington scored 18 of his game-high 23 points in the first half, including 10 in the opening quarter. Arrington made five shots in a row at one point, and finished nine of 16 from the field.
Still, Heritage stayed close through the third quarter, moving within six points (49-43) when Kevin Lambert scored with 1:29 remaining in the period. But Liberty closed the quarter with two critical baskets.
``Arrington and Carson made two huge plays,'' Hanks said. Carson converted a jumper with 9.3 seconds left in the period, and then stole the ball as Heritage came down court. Carson found Arrington for another jumper at the buzzer.
``I don't think Heritage ever really recovered after that,'' Hanks said.
The Minutemen ran off the first seven points of the fourth period in less than two minutes, and suddenly the lead was 17.
Lambert was the Pioneers' leading scorer with 19 points, and Jason Wade contributed 11, most of them late in the game.
Liberty's most glaring negative statistic was 17 missed free throws. ``It's been a problem all year,'' Hanks said. ``But I think we've made enough of an issue of it already.'' NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB