ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 5, 1997 TAG: 9702050109
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: CHRIS LANG STAFF WRITER
The Christiansburg Blue Demons got a lesson in English on Tuesday night, administered by William Byrd.
Terriers guard Frank English scored 14 points, including two key 3-pointers, to help Byrd shake the Blue Demons, 64-54, and maintain a share of the lead in the Blue Ridge District.
Guard Mayo Wilson added a game-high 19 points for the Terriers (13-5 overall, 9-2 district).
Guard Eric Lucas paced the Blue Demons (9-8, 4-6) with 15 points, most of them in the first half.
"Wilson is the one that kills you," Christiansburg coach Gerald Thompson said. "You can't press him. He came out and controlled the tempo of the game. He's the key."
Wilson gave the Blue Demons a clinic in free-throw shooting, nailing all eight of his chances in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
The Demons were within six points with 6:22 left after two Matt Reynolds free throws. But English worked free from the Christiansburg defense on the ensuing possession to drain an uncontested 3-pointer to put William Byrd up 48-39 with 5:48 remaining. The Demons would not challenge again.
"Frank English really played well tonight," Terriers coach Paul Barnard said. "We only had 14 turnovers tonight and a lot of those came in the first half."
Byrd adjusted to shut down Lucas after a hot start. Lucas scored 11 points in the first half and kept the Blue Demons close. He had seven points in the first three minutes of play.
"They did some things early defensively and Lucas got some open looks," Barnard said. "The players made some adjustments and we helped them make those adjustments. I think Chris Kendrick did a good job defending him."
Barnard made some lineup changes before the game, starting Kendrick and Jason Thomas in place of English and guard Josh Wheeler, to counter Christiansburg's size.
The expected battle in the middle between Terriers center Kevin Stump and Blue Demons center Michael Kazee never really materialized because the guards controlled the tempo of the game.
"I think they kind of neutralized each other," Thompson said. "Kazee's a better outside shooter than he is an inside and we need him to be inside. They're a physical team and we're not a physical team. We scrapped and pushed and shoved more than we have all year tonight."
Late in the second quarter, with the Terriers up 30-23, Lucas stole the ball and raced down the floor for a layup, but was fouled hard by Thomas. The Christiansburg bench screamed for an intentional foul, which was not granted.
Then to compound things, Blue Demons guard Don Haga and English exchanged words and had to be separated by the referees.
Lucas hit both free throws to cut the lead to 30-25, but didn't score again in the half.
In the end, it was a struggling Blue Demon defense that cost Christiansburg the game.
"They got a three- or four-point lead and we just traded baskets with them," Thompson said. "We played really well offensively at the beginning, but our defense didn't. We just traded points a little too much."
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 linesby CNB