THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 29, 1995 TAG: 9501290215
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
They say revenge is a dish best served cold. Maybe so, but Norfolk State served it up red hot Saturday night.
The Spartans, shooting a season-high 61 percent, avenged a bitter loss to Virginia State on Dec. 10 by burying the Trojans, 101-71, in front of 7,988 at Echols Arena.
It was Norfolk State's 13th straight win, and it came in front of the season's largest crowd.
It was also perhaps the most satisfying, as the Spartans (16-2, 11-1 CIAA) purged memories of a loss that represented the low point of their season.
``The first thing was the revenge,'' guard Carnell Penn said. ``We came back and showed everybody, convincingly, that they shouldn't have won that first game.''
Penn, like virtually every Spartan, had a hot hand Saturday, hitting 7 of 11 from the field and becoming Norfolk State's all-time leading 3-point shooter, with 115 for his career.
``What did they shoot? 65 percent?'' said Virginia State coach Tyrone Hart, before being handed a stat sheet. ``They could have beaten the New York Knicks tonight, in my opinion.''
Virginia State (9-10, 4-8) might as well have been the Knicks, the way Norfolk State approached the game.
``Any time you lose a ballgame, you have extra incentive when you have a chance to play that team a second time,'' Norfolk State coach Mike Bernard said.
Norfolk State shot 59 percent in the first half in building a 49-36 lead. They started the second half with a 17-6 run that effectively put the game away with about 12 minutes left.
``We've got some momentum now,'' Bernard said. ``And that enabled us, attitudinally, to play a much different type of game than we did on Dec. 10.''
Virginia State, which hurt Norfolk inside in the first game, got very little inside scoring Saturday as big men Doug Hines and Kelvin Kinney - who combined for 43 points in the first game - were held to 24. Many of those came long after the issue had been decided.
Norfolk State is shaping up as team with many strengths, and all of the were on display Saturday. Six players scored at least eight points, led by Derrick Bryant's 22 and Penn's 19. And Norfolk State held the Trojans to 37 percent shooting.
``With what I saw tonight they should win the whole thing - the national championship,'' Hart said. ILLUSTRATION: SPARTANS TAKE REVENGE
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
Virginia State's Douglas Hines, left, and Norfolk State's Maurice
Whitfield race for a loose ball in the Spartans' victory Saturday
night in Echols Arena.
by CNB