THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 13, 1995 TAG: 9503130120
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENSBORO LENGTH: Long : 115 lines
Even though Wake Forest had not won an ACC tournament since 1962, coach Dave Odom was choosy about how he wanted it done Sunday.
Odom wanted this championship trophy to have the fingerprints of Randolph Childress all over it.
And that is how it was on a golden dream-come-true afternoon for the Demon Deacons in the Greensboro Coliseum.
Childress, already established as one of the best clutch performers in league history, scored all nine of the Deacons' points in overtime for an 82-80 victory over North Carolina.
``For anyone else to have scored nine points in overtime and hit the winning shot would have taken away from this win,'' Odom said.
``There has never been a more fitting way to finish a career in the ACC tournament than what Randolph did today.''
Both teams finished the season with 24-5 records and received high seedings for the NCAA tournament, which begins this week.
Wake Forest is the No. 1 seed in the East Region, and North Carolina the No. 2 seed in the Southeast.
Childress, whose 3-pointer opened the overtime session, drilled a running jump shot in the lane with five seconds remaining for the game winner.
It was Childress' 37th point of the game and 107th of the tournament, breaking the record of 106 set in 1957 by North Carolina's Lennie Rosenbluth.
``Everyone knew I was going to take the last shot,'' the 6-foot-2 senior from Clinton, Md., said.
``But I knew it wasn't over. I knew Carolina was going to get one last shot.''
Not just one. Two.
But Jerry Stackhouse came up just short of grabbing the trophy from the Deacons and the headlines from Childress on a futile 3-point attempt.
Pearce Landry tried to salvage a tie at the buzzer but failed on a tap-back of Stackhouse's missed shot.
``North Carolina made us earn it,'' Odom said. ``They are one tough team.''
The Tar Heels proved their grit by pushing the game into overtime, and down to the final second, after losing All-ACC center Rasheed Wallace with 7:41 left in regulation.
North Carolina had scored 10 straight points for a 61-55 lead when Wallace twisted his left ankle following a shot near the North Carolina goal.
He sprawled onto the court, twisting in pain and clutching his ankle as a quietness spread among the thousands of Carolina fans.
The 6-foot-10 Wallace, who had scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds, did not return.
A team spokesman said sprain appeared to be ``mild to moderate'' and should not keep him out of the NCAA tournament.
With Wallace unavailable to check the 6-foot-11 Tim Duncan, the Deacons soon ended a four-minute scoreless spell.
They surged to a 71-65 lead before Stackhouse brought the Heels back to tie with a 3-pointer.
He had intercepted a pass, taken it for layup and hit a free throw before his 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds remaining put the game into overtime.
Stackhouse was scoreless in the extra five-minute session, but a 3-pointer by Donald Williams with 23 seconds left tied the score at 80.
At that point, it was as Childress said - everyone knew who was going to take the final shot for the Deacons.
``We had told everyone to double up on Childress and to leave someone else open to shoot,'' North Carolina coach Dean Smith said.
``He still got his shot. I congratulate him, and I am glad he is graduating.''
Childress said his teammates turned down shots in those final seconds to make sure he had the ball in his hands.
He began making his move to the basket with 10 seconds remaining and immediately saw a double-team coming at him.
``I went away from it, went into the lane, shot a runner, and it went in,'' he said.
Childress was 12 for 22 from the field, including nine 3-pointers, despite playing with a dislocated small finger on his right (shooting) hand.
He said his biggest problem was trying to make the sharp move off the dribble. He had four turnovers, including one in the final seconds of regulation.
``But I said coming into the game if I scored 30 points or five, I was not going to use the finger as an excuse,'' Childress said.
Both Childress and Odom, though, did not minimize Wallace's injury for the Tar Heels.
``It was a major factor, but the game had to be won or lost by those left out there,'' Odom said.
The Deacons, though, failed to take full advantage of Wallace's absence by not getting the ball inside to Duncan.
He barely touched the ball and had only one goal in the final 10 minutes.
Odom admitted the Deacons made a mistake by not getting the ball to Duncan, who was being defended by 6-foot-6 Stackhouse.
But, in the end, there was no question about who Odom wanted to have the ball with a chance to win had it.
``There never has been a more deserving All-ACC player than Randolph Childress,'' Odom said.
Childress was a landslide choice for tournament most valuable player. He received 170 of the 173 votes. Rounding out the all-tournament team were Stackhouse, Wallace, Duncan and Junior Burrough of Virginia.
In the three wins over Duke, Virginia and North Carolina, Childress was 33 for 61 from the field, 23 for 44 on 3-pointers, and 18 for 20 from the line. He also had 21 assists.
The Deacons, as the No. 1 seed in the East, open the NCAA tournament on Thursday in Baltimore against North Carolina A&T.
The last time they advanced to the Final Four was in 1962 - the last time they won the ACC tournament.
``Can we win the national title? Yes, we can win it,'' Odom said.
``It won't be easy, but as long as we've got No. 22 (Childress), we can win it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Randolph Childress scored all nine of Wake Forest's points in
overtime, including this 8-footer with four seconds left, which
provided the final margin.
by CNB