THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 3, 1996 TAG: 9601030558
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SALISBURY, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
The Norfolk State Spartans don't know how long their nickel offense will continue to pay the bills, but it was plenty enough for an 80-71 victory Tuesday night at Livingstone College.
Playing in front of a smallish crowd of 215 at New Trent Gym on a rain-soaked evening, Norfolk State's starting five accounted for 78 of the Spartans' 80 points, with each of those five logged at least 30 minutes of court time in their CIAA opener.
Guard Carnell Penn led the attack with 22 points, center Blitz Wooten chipped in with 19 and forwards Derrick Bryant and Rodney Carmichael had 14 apiece.
The only Spartan starter not in double figures in scoring was point guard Maurice Whitfield, who nonetheless nearly pulled off a triple-double. Whitfield had nine points, nine assists and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Norfolk State coach Mike Bernard wanted to employ his bench more, but every time the Spartans built any kind of lead, the Black Bears clawed their way back into it.
``My concern was they came back every time we thought we were building a commanding lead,'' said coach Mike Bernard, who notched his 100th career victory at Norfolk State and is 100-33 in just over five years. ``That forced me to keep the starters out there.''
The Spartans (5-1) never trailed and built a 60-43 lead with just over 11 minutes remaining. But the pesky Bears came back behind the hot hands of Von Hilliard and Damon Shoultz, who scored 19 and 13 points respectively.
``They're a scrappy bunch,'' Carmichael said. ``Coach told us Livingstone wouldn't give up and they didn't. We made some good runs, but it never killed them. We need to mature to a point where we don't let up on our intensity when we get a lead.''
Livingstone (4-6, 1-3) cut the Spartans' lead to 73-68 with 1:38 remaining on two free throws by Shoultz. But Bryant answered with a circus shot at the other end and converted the three-point play after being fouled by Livingstone's David Harper. That gave Norfolk State a 76-68 lead with 1:20 remaining. After that, it was just a matter of running out the clock.
``This is always a tough place to play and there was a definite fatigue factor in it for us,'' said Bernard, whose squad had played Friday and Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla. ``We played an average ball game, definitely not as well as we played last week.''
The Spartans have little time to rest as they return to action Thursday against Winston-Salem State at Echols Arena. It will be their first home game since Nov. 25. They then host Johnson C. Smith Saturday, the day most students will return for second semester.
Whitfield, who played all but two minutes Tuesday, says the Spartans starting five can go ``the 40 minutes if we have to.
``We know how to pull through when we have to,'' Whitfield said. ``But we need our bench. We have a great bench. The chemistry's just not there right now. But we've got to develop it.'' by CNB