THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 27, 1995 TAG: 9508270186
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
Maryland's got the Love, but are they ready for Primetime?
In our best street ball/sneaker commercial parlance, that about sums up the situation at the National Pro-Am Invitational basketball tournament, a street ball/sneaker commercial type of event.
After three days of nearly non-stop hooping, the 10-team field was thinned to a big-city four Saturday evening: New York, Philly, Atlanta and Maryland, a team whose players hail mostly from Washington.
Emerging from the semifinals at Lake Taylor High were New York's Majesco Primetime, the national Pro-Am champions, and Maryland, which got 42 points from its extraordinary guard, Eric Love. They'll meet in the title game at noon today at Lake Taylor.
Primetime knocked off Philadelphia DePersia, 104-97 in the first semi, getting 43 points from power forward John Strickland, a former star at Hawaii-Pacific. Primetime also got 25 points from point guard James ``Speedy'' Williams and 18 from backcourt mate Howie Hudson.
``We're doing all right with what we have left,'' said Williams, referring to the fact that Primetime left half its squad back in New York to play in a tournament there.
Primetime did most of its damage inside, where the 6-foot-6 Strickland couldn't be contained. He hit 18 of 28 shots from the field.
Maryland was more perimeter-oriented, getting a combined 75 points from its backcourt of Love and Derwin Lilly. That total, incidentally, is just two more than their combined age - 73 years.
Love, 36, played at Central State of Ohio and has been with the Maryland team for about a decade. Lilly, 37, was a star on Virginia Union's 1980 Division II championship team.
Both appear to have plenty of basketball left in them. Love's game is still played above the rim while Lilly is a three-point specialist.
``We play year-round, everywhere,'' Lilly said.
Maryland has played Primetime before and has generally not fared well, Love said. This is a different team, however, than the one Maryland had just a couple of years ago, when it bowed out early in a national Pro-Am tournament in Las Vegas; a tournament won by Primetime.
``We're close-knit,'' Love said. ``Before we had a bunch of superstars, and you know how that goes.'' by CNB