ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 12, 1997 TAG: 9702120088
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS LANG STAFF WRITER
MARTY STANLEY SCORES 21 points as the Chiefs down the Eagles 85-77.
The 3-point shooting that had held Roanoke Valley Christian together in the first three quarters nearly ceased to exist in the fourth Tuesday night, and Carlisle took advantage by scoring 10 straight points midway through the period to seal an 85-77 victory at RVC.
Carlisle swept the season series with its Virginia Independent Conference rival and quelled RVC's hopes of clinching the league's Southern Division title.
The Chiefs (10-7 overall, 7-5 conference) were led by Marty Stanley's 21 points, but the night came to a terrible end for the Carlisle guard with 1:31 left in the game.
Stanley stole the ball from Roanoke Valley Christian's Chris Huffman, who chased him down and fouled him hard at the other end of the floor. Stanley was left writhing in pain, gripping his right knee. He was removed from the floor by the Carlisle assistants about five minutes later.
"It was clean," said RVC coach Trey Dixon. "He went for the ball, but it was a hard foul."
Carlisle coach Jeff Adkins said the seriousness of the injury would not be determined until Stanley visits a doctor today.
"Obviously, he was having a good game before that," Adkins said.
Huffman and guard Brad Hutchins both scored a game-high 24 points to lead Roanoke Valley Christian (14-6, 10-4).
Carlisle took the lead several times during the second half, but couldn't put it away until halfway through the fourth quarter. After a Stanley jumper put the Chiefs up 55-48, the Eagles stormed back behind two of their 11 3-pointers. Huffman nailed the first one and after a missed Carlisle shot and Mark Delong drained another 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 55-54.
The score was tied at 66 with 6:59 left in the fourth quarter when the Chiefs made their run.
"We were at 66-66 and we turned the ball over," Dixon said. "We didn't box out on the free throws and we didn't box out on shots. We just didn't box out at all."
Carlisle guard Chad Martin, who scored 18 points, ended the run with a tip-in of a Lamont Franklin miss and pushed the lead to 76-66 with 3:35 to play.
During that span, RVC missed all five of its field-goal attempts and committed four personal fouls. Carlisle's defense adjusted and did not give Huffman, who hit six 3-pointers on the night, any open looks at the bucket.
"We really couldn't stop them," Franklin said. "We went to a triangle with one guy guarding [Huffman] and another guy guarding [Hutchins] constantly. That pretty much slowed them. We put some men on them and made them dribble."
The Eagles wouldn't threaten again. They cut the lead to seven with 2:13 left, but that was as close as RVC would get.
"We knew both times when we played them that they were must wins," Adkins said. "At the first of the year we weren't playing real well. Now we've got a string of about five wins in a row in the conference and we're playing well at the right time."
Free-throw shooting, or lack thereof, killed the Eagles down the stretch. RVC was just 10-of-20 from the line, and 7-of-15 in the fourth quarter.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines KEYWORDS: BASKETBALLby CNB