ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 29, 1997 TAG: 9701290058
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
Much has been made about the improvements Curtis Staples has made in his defense, his ball-handling and his work ethic at both ends of the basketball floor.
Staples is never more dangerous, however, than when he's catching the ball and squaring to shoot somewhere behind the 3-point line.
With Virginia on the verge of an ignominious conference loss, Staples hit a succession of clutch 3-point baskets Tuesday night as the Cavaliers pulled out a 56-50 victory over North Carolina State.
The Wolfpack, which had lost 14 consecutive ACC games, shrugged off the absence of leading scorer C.C. Harrison to take a 47-42 lead with less than 31/2 minutes remaining.
``I looked up at the scoreboard at about that point and all I could think was, 'We can't lose; we can't lose this game,''' said Staples, a junior from Roanoke. ``This could have been a back-breaking loss for us.''
Staples hit a 3-pointer to pull the Cavaliers to 47-45; then, after the Wolfpack had extended its lead to 50-47, Staples took a handoff from Harold Deane at the top of the key and drilled another 3-pointer with 1:59 left.
That sparked a game-ending 9-0 run for the Cavaliers, who didn't seal the victory until freshman guard Willie Dersch came up with a critical offensive rebound and converted four free throws in the final 11.7 seconds.
``I'm not going to stand here and say I was relaxed,'' said Dersch, who had not scored until that point. ``I will say it made it easier when they called [State] for an intentional foul.''
After Harold Deane had hit a pair of free throws with 43.7 seconds left to put the Cavaliers on top 52-50, State ran a play for senior forward Danny Strong, who had scored 20 points in the second half and 25 for the game.
Strong missed a two-point jumper from close to the 3-point arc, but State fouled Jamal Robinson on the rebound and wasn't out of the game by any means. Robinson was shooting 45.9 percent from the line.
Robinson missed the front end of a one-and-one with 14.7 seconds remaining, but the ball took a healthy bounce off the right side of the rim and into the hands of Dersch, who anticipated a quick foul and got it.
``On Harold's free throws, I had noticed their inside guy [Damon Thornton] trying to push me away from the basket,'' Dersch said. ``So, I tried to pinch down and get him under the basket. It was a lucky break the ball bounced wide.''
If the last 15 seconds belonged to Dersch, the first 39 minutes-plus belonged to Strong and Staples. Strong, the Wolfpack's top returning scorer from 1995-96, had failed to score in double figures in his previous five games.
``Danny Strong played his best game offensively of the year and really kept us in the game,'' N.C. State coach Herb Sendek said. ``We're obviously a much better team when Danny shoots like that. He hadn't shot like that all year.''
When the Cavaliers put Robinson on Strong, Strong took him inside. When they made the switch to 6-foot-8, 243-pound Norman Nolan, Strong was content to shoot from outside.
Virginia didn't cool off Strong until it went to a diamond-and-one zone, with Staples trying to deny Strong. Staples was up to the task despite spending most of his game trying to run defender Ishua Benjamin into screens.
``He's a pretty good defender, too,'' Staples said. ``Coach [Jeff Jones] kept reminding the guys during timeouts to look for me. It hasn't always worked in the past, but the guys were working extra hard. Nobody else was in the groove.''
Staples finished with 27 points and, although he scored a career-high 30 against Delaware early in the season, he could not remember when he had made as many big shots with a game on the line. He finished 9-of-16 from the field, including 7-of-13 on 3-pointers.
``That was basically the focus of our offense,'' Jones said. ``After the first five minutes of the second half, we were looking for him nearly every time down the floor.''
It was the Cavaliers' 10th victory in their last 11 games with State, including five in a row. Virginia (13-6 overall, 4-4) also surpassed its victory total from the 1995-96 season, when it was 12-15.
``We were playing a last-place team and they had nothing to lose and we had everything to lose,'' said Deane, who finished with eight points, all in the last 12:09, and six assists. ``I wasn't worried, but I knew we had to make a defensive stand at some point.''
The Wolfpack (8-9, 0-8) has been competitive in virtually all of its ACC games, most notably in a 59-56 loss at North Carolina, where State led by nine points with 21/2 minutes remaining.
``Nobody all year has shaken N.C. State,'' Jones said. ``They're tough, they're opportunistic, they've been in every game. We're tickled to death to win.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 89 linesby CNB