THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502230152
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER
CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
IT WASN'T supposed to end this way, but Claudie Mackey has been through worse in his nine-year career as head coach of the Elizabeth City State University men's basketball program.
Norfolk State University, ECSU's archrival, spoiled Mackey's final home game as head coach with an 86-74 win at the Vaughan Center last week.
For one half, it looked like maybe the Vikings could pull off the upset in what has been a dismal year for the team.
The Vikings built an 11-point lead late in the first half on two jumpers by Larry James and a free throw by John Richardson, two unlikely heroes at the beginning of the season. Norfolk State scored the last six points of the half to cut the Vikings lead to 46-44. James, playing the game of his career, scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half.
But James, and starting center Jo-ve Ford, both got into foul trouble in the second half. Neither could play as effective as the first half and both fouled out. Still, trailing 74-66, ECSU made a final run at it. With 3:53 to play, Adrian Bell sunk a 3-pointer. Ron Nowlin, who scored his 1,000th career point earlier in the game, grabbed a rebound and put back a jumper with 3:17 to play. After a NSU timeout, Nowlin, playing in his last home game, brought the crowd to its feet with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 74-74 at 2:30.
But just as quick as the Vikings brought the house down, the Spartans raised the roof. Carnell Penn quickly popped two 3-pointers on the other end to give NSU an insurmountable 80-74 lead with 1:50 to play.
Mackey, who resigned the head coaching position for medical and personal reasons as of March 1, said his team could not play in the second half in foul trouble.
``There were 26 fouls called on our inside people,'' he said with a grin. ``It's hard to play that way. There's not much you can do.''
With the game out of the way, Mackey finished answering reporter's questions by telling anyone within earshot that he won't be absent from the Vaughan Center. His new position as assistant athletics director/development will keep him active in the ECSU sports program.
``It's been a good journey. I thoroughly enjoyed it,'' he said. ``But it's not like I'm leaving the building. I think there are some other things in this department that I can do. We've been able to put some competitive teams on the floor, but the budget at ECSU is not like it is at other schools.''
So on March 1, Mackey will do some things he is used to, and some things he is not used to. He'll walk into the Vaughan Center and teach his first class of the day, just like he usually does. After that, he'll try to raise money for the athletic department.
``I'll be looking for anyone who will try to help us make the program better,'' he said, already the salesman.
Mackey will finish his coaching career at ECSU with a losing record. But if he could translate his record of graduating players into wins, he would have the best winning percentage in NCAA history. ECSU graduates nearly 90 percent of its men's basketball players.
``This morning, about 15 of the guys (former players) showed up at my office to talk,'' Mackey said. ``It was a good feeling to see them because these were guys that folks thought were going to quit school and they thought they were hotheads. Now they're teachers and working for the airlines, and other things. They told me they want to get involved with the (new athletic fund-raising) program.
``It's not just Claudie Mackey that has caused this to happen,'' he continued. ``There are a lot of good people on this campus that have made sure they are successful.'' ILLUSTRATION: Coach Claudie Mackey
by CNB