THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 12, 1995 TAG: 9501120545
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Norfolk State showed off both its new uniforms and its new depth Wednesday night, knocking off Fayetteville State, 95-79, in a CIAA game at Echols Arena.
The Spartans (10-2, 5-1 CIAA) played the final six minutes without Corey Williams, who was ejected, and Blitz Wooten, who fouled out, but still had the horses to hold off a solid Fayetteville club and win their seventh straight.
``Our bench was pivotal,'' Norfolk State coach Mike Bernard said. ``We got good bench work from Rodney Carmichael, Carlton Cooper, Marvin Stinson and Matthew Thompson.''
Carmichael, the newest Spartan, had an impressive debut, scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds in 17 minutes. The 6-foot-5 transfer from Salem Community College filled in for Williams down the stretch without the team missing a beat.
``He's got a lot to learn about our system,'' Bernard said. ``But you can see the talent is there.''
Williams had 15 points and five rebounds before being ejected with 6:24 left after a scrap with Fayetteville's Donald Petree, who was also ejected.
Ejection for fighting means an automatic one-game suspension. Bernard said he is considering an appeal to the CIAA office. On a videotape replay, Petree appeared to the the aggressor, hitting Williams twice before Williams responded with a punch that missed.
Williams sat down and Wooten fouled out 20 seconds later. By that time, however, Norfolk State was up 12, a lead it had maintained since early in the second half.
Fayetteville came out hot, or rather, Fayetteville guard Jerome Oliver came out hot, and the Broncos (7-6, 3-5) stayed close early. Oliver, a 6-1 senior, scored 20 of Fayetteville's first 24 points, and the Broncos led 26-25 with 6:55 left in the first half.
``Without him it would not have been a contest,'' Bronco coach Ricky Duckett said. ``It gave us a false sense of hope.''
That hope started to fade late in the half as Norfolk State took over inside. Wooten, Carmichael and Derrick Bryant were a combined 11-for-11 in the half, and pulled down 13 rebounds.
Bryant continued his hot shooting in the second half, finishing a perfect 6 of 6 from the field and 2 of 2 from the line for 14 points. He also pulled down 16 rebounds.
Fayetteville, with no player over 6-6, had no answer for Norfolk State's inside power, and the Broncos were outrebounded, 44-21.
They also had no answer for shooting guard Carnell Penn, who had a season-high 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting.
Oliver finished with 34 points, the most scored against Norfolk State this year.
But as Bernard said, ``I don't think one man is going to beat our whole team.''
The Spartans play at St. Paul's Saturday night. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JIM WALKER, Staff
Fayetteville State's David Brown cuts off Norfolk State's Blitz
Wooten's path to the basket.
by CNB