THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 15, 1995 TAG: 9501120177
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER
CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
THINGS WERE JUST not the same at Elizabeth City State University last week when the Vikings played CIAA rival Virginia Union at the Vaughan Center.
The crowd was small.
The pep band did not play.
The Vikings warmed up silently and mechanically.
Even when the Vikings took an early lead over the heavily favored Panthers, the fans from Virginia Union were louder.
The students had not come back from winter break, but even if they had, things were different.
Nine-year head coach Claudie Mackey had announced his resignation the previous day, adding another chapter to the Vikings' frustrating 1994-95 campaign, the season of ``Unfinished Business.''
Mackey said in a prepared statement that he was leaving the coaching position as of March 1 for medical and personal reasons. He has told several people at the university that he had thought about the decision for quite awhile.
The task at hand was for the Vikings, then 4-6, to knock off the undefeated Panthers (10-0) who were ranked second in the nation coming into the game.
ECSU had never beaten Virginia Union in Mackey's nine seasons. He had just two more chances. Make it one.
Virginia Union, which was called for just one foul in the second half, rallied from a 15-10 deficit to down the Vikings 89-63.
ECSU looked inspired in the first half, perhaps rallying around Mackey. Trailing 10-7, the Vikings ran off eight straight points and took a 15-10 lead with 14:16 to play in the half on Ron Nowlin's rebound and jumper.
Union rallied to take a 37-33 halftime lead, but ECSU was not out of the game at this point.
The Vikings shot 58 percent in the first half even though Union had been holding opponents to 33 percent shooting on the season.
Foul trouble hurt ECSU in the second half as point guard Adrian Bell and shooting guard Jermaine Smoak both left the game with under 13 minutes to play with four fouls. The Vikings trailed by just 10 points then.
As soon as Bell and Smoak got into foul trouble, the Panthers ripped off a 13-2 run, and the route was on.
``We got in foul trouble and that was basically it for us,'' Mackey said. ``Adrian was in foul trouble and we played most of the second half without Jermaine. There was only one foul called on them in the second half and they pushed Jo-ve (Ford, ECSU's center) around and beat on him and he didn't get the call.''
The Vikings shot just 41 percent in the second half and oddly enough had no free throw attempts. Bernard Cooper led the ECSU scoring with 13 points. Ford finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
It came down to the same old problems the team has been having all year - staying in control. The Vikings committed 22 turnovers, including nine by Bell, mostly when Union applied full court and half court presses.
``We get good results when we have our people in place,'' Mackey said. ``But we can't put it together for the whole game.''
Dave Robbins, Virginia Union head coach, said that the league will not be the same without Mackey.
``Mackey has done a very fine job and he's a class person. I really hate to see him go,'' Robbins said. ``It's a stressful job. In this league you're expected to win. They have an excellent team and when they come together they could be a dominant team, maybe the best in the league.''
Mackey said that the fact he has never beaten Union did not come up in the locker room before the game.
``We didn't say anything about it tonight. But I'll say it now - I've got one more chance.'' by CNB