THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 9, 1995 TAG: 9504090255
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL LEFFLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
A broken nose might have caused Duke's Eric Meek to lose a night's sleep.
But it wasn't going to keep him out of the championship game of the 43rd annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament.
And after leading Beach/Barton Ford to an 86-65 victory over Bill Lewis Chevrolet Saturday night at Churchland in the PIT title game, the 6-foot-10 Meek said ``it was a price I was happy to pay for all the good things that happened.''
Meek hauled down 19 rebounds in the final, 14 off the defensive glass, and chipped in eight points. He was an unanimous choice as the tournament's most valuable player.
He also was informed he had been picked to play at Phoenix in the next postseason action for the most highly regarded NBA prospects.
In Friday's semifinal game he suffered a broken nose in a first-half rebounding collision but finished out the game before going to the hospital.
``I didn't get to bed until 4 a.m.,'' he said. ``Then I really had trouble sleeping.
``But there was no way I wouldn't play. I came to Portsmouth with the intention of winning an invite to Phoenix. The MVP award was an extra bonus.
``This is the best feeling I have ever had. Things didn't go well for us at Duke this year and when we finished up I felt like I was on the verge of playing my best.
``I had nine points and nine rebounds in my first game here and I told myself that wasn't what I came here for. I had to dig down deeper for better things to happen.''
In his second game, he scored 27 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. His 43 overall rebounds were the third highest in tournament history.
Six of the other seven Beach/Barton players hit double figures in the final.
Syracuse's Lucious Jackson set the pace with 15. Antoine Gillespie of Texas-El Paso and New Hampshire's Scott Drapeau each had 13.
The winning team was coached by Rufus Outland and Tony Holloway.
Other team members were Jermain Parker of UNC-Charlotte, Louis Rowe of James Madison, Eric Burks of Charleston Southern and Tony Miller of Marquette. Parker pulled down 14 rebounds and blocked six shots in the championship game. Miller had three steals, a record 13 for the tournament.
George Banks of Texas-El Paso topped Lewis Chevrolet's scoring with 15 points. Seven-foot Anthony Pelle of Fresno State garnered 11 rebounds and had 12 points.
In the third-place game, K-Plus, getting 24 points from Jarvis Lang of UNC Charlotte, edged Hoechst Celanese, 96-93.
Michigan's Jimmy King had a tournament-high 38 in the losing effort and missed on a 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime. King had made both of his earlier 3-point shots.
Old Dominion's Mike Jones contributed 15 points for Hoechst Celanese.
In the afternoon consolation championship, Norfolk Naval Shipyard rolled over Portsmouth Sports Club, 115-79.
Ronnie McMahan of Vanderbilt had 23 points, and Troy Brown of Providence scored 21.
ODU's Petey Sessoms notched 16 points for the Shipyard and also received an invitation to Phoenix.
In a balloting of fans, Sessoms was chosen as the winner of the Tommy Fennell Memorial Award as the outstanding sportsman.
``This will be a memory that will last forever,'' said Sessoms. ``I couldn't be any happier.'' ILLUSTRATION: MOTOYA NAKAMURA/Staff
Jermain Parker of UNC Charlotte had 14 rebounds and six blocks in
addition to this monster dunk during Saturday's PIT final.
by CNB