ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 4, 1997 TAG: 9703040116
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
TYPE: COLLEGE BASKETBALL
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS AND STAFF REPORTS
Fairfield became just the 12th team to earn an NCAA tournament berth with a losing record, beating Canisius 78-72 Monday night in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship game in Buffalo, N.Y.
Fairfield (11-18) finished last in the eight-team MAAC during the regular season. Rated 252nd in the Ratings Percentage Index, the Stags knocked off top-seeded Iona and then St.Peter's to reach the conference tournament final.
Greg Francis scored 26 points and Shannon Bowman had 22 to hold off Canisius (17-12).
Fairfield is the fourth sub-.500 team to reach the NCAA tournament in the last three years. Central Florida was 11-18 and San Jose State was 13-16 when they both made it last season, and Florida International was 11-18 the previous year.
A-10 women
St. Joseph's 59, No. 18 George Washington 56: St.Joseph's rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit and Megan Compain made six straight free throws down the stretch in a victory over No.19 George Washington for the Hawks' first Atlantic 10 championship in Washington.
The loss also ended GW's 22-game overall winning streak as well as its 35-game home winning streak, which had been the second longest in the nation.
Note
DISTRICT III ALL-ACADEMIC: Three area players were named to the GTE District III All-Academic Basketball Teams for NCAA Division III schools.
Roanoke College senior forward Jon Maher (Blacksburg) was named to the men's first team, Longwood College senior Nikki Hall (Glenvar) made the women's first team and Roanoke senior guard Suzanne Moore (Blacksburg) made the second team.
Maher is a biology major with a 3.42 grade point average who has been on the Dean's list every semester at Roanoke. Moore is an art major with a 3.96 GPA.
Hall is the 1997 Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference player of the year. She has a 3.83 GPA in anthropology and biology. Hall will be speaking to a national convention of archaeologists in April.
Radford University junior forward Corey Reed was named to the Division I All-Academic men's team. Reed, who has a 3.97 GPA in chemistry and has made the Dean's list every semester at Radford, was also named the Big South Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year in men's basketball.
LENGTH: Medium: 52 linesby CNB