ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 24, 1997 TAG: 9702250072
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
Senior Maurice Spencer scored 21 points Sunday to top the career 1,000-point plateau and VMI exploded for 56 second-half points in a 97-75 victory over East Tennessee State on Senior Day in Lexington.
The Keydets (11-15, 7-7 Southern Conference), who ended a four-game losing streak, trailed by four points early in the second half before going on a 29-9 run over a 10-minute span to take control.
``The whole difference in our game was our defensive pressure,'' said Bart Bellairs, VMI's coach. ``Our press looked as good as it has all year.''
The Buccaneers (7-19, 2-12) committed 32 turnovers and missed 10 of 18 free throws.
``We worked on the press for three days but we looked like we had never seen a press before,'' said Ed DeChellis, ETSU's coach. ``It's all very frustrating. VMI played inspired basketball.''
Jason Bell led VMI with 22 points, Darryl Faulkner added 19 points and six assists and Mike Spinelli had 12 points. Bell had eight steals to set a school record formerly held by Spencer and Bobby Prince and the Keydets had 20 steals overall to tie a school record. B.J. Grinage, the Keydets' only other senior, had four points and five rebounds in 12 minutes.
``I wanted to give our seniors a lot of credit,'' said Bellairs, whose team overcame the loss of their top rebounder and scorer (Brent Conley) and top assist man (Andre Quarles) to institutional suspension at midseason. ``Despite our setbacks of late, I've enjoyed the last part of our season because of our senior leadership. It's the reason I coach.''
Spencer is the 23rd player in VMI history to score 1,000 points in a career. His total stands at 1,001.
ETSU dominated on the boards, pulling down 50 rebounds to the Keydets' 36. VMI more than made up for that discrepancy by hitting 22 of 33 free throws and committing only 13 turnovers.
Kyle Keeton led East Tennessee State with 17 points, Lee Walker added 13 points and Ryan Wilson 12. Reggie Todd had 13 rebounds and Wilson 11.
The Keydets enter this week's Southern Conference tournament as the fourth seed in the North Division and will face Furman in a first-round game at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Greensboro, N.C. Furman is led by ex-VMI coach Joe Cantafio, who is coaching in his last Southern Conference tournament with the Paladins.
``It's going to be an emotional game,'' said Bellairs. ``We're going to have to make sure that we keep our mind on beating Furman and not that it's Joe Cantafio's last SC tournament. We admire what he did here at VMI, he's a very good coach and a fine human being.''
EASTTENNESSEESTATE(7-19,2-12)
Seymour 0-2 0-0 0, Blakley 2-3 0-1 4, Anavitarte 0-0 0-0 0, Keeton 5-7 3-5 17, Shelton 4-9 2-3 10, Lisicky 2-8 2-2 7, Todd 4-10 0-1 8, Walker 6-10 1-3 13, Davis 2-7 0-0 4, Wilson 6-9 0-3 12. Totals 31-65 8-18 75.|
VMI(11-15,7-7)
Spencer 8-17 2-3 21, Faulkner 5-12 5-6 19, Taueg 2-6 2-2 6, Bell 8-11 5-8 22, Matheny 0-1 0-0 0, Mann 1-6 1-2 3, Demory 4-6 0-1 8, Dinunzio 0-1 2-2 2, Spinelli 4-9 4-5 12, Grinage 1-5 1-4 4. Totals 33-74 22-33 97.|
Halftime-VMI 41, East Tennessee State 38. Three-point goals-East Tennessee State 5-13 (Seymour 0-1, Keeton 4-5, Shelton 0-1, Lisicky 1-4, Walker 0-1, Wilson 0-1), VMI 9-23 (Spencer 3-8, Faulkner 4-7, Taueg 0-2, Bell 1-3, Spinelli 0-1, Grinage 1-2). Fouled out-Todd. Rebounds-East Tennessee State 50 (Todd 13), VMI 36 (Mann 8). Assists-East Tennessee State 17 (Keeton, Todd 4), VMI 17 (Faulkner 6). Total fouls-East Tennessee State 24, VMI 21. A-1,934.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines KEYWORDS: BASKETBALLby CNB