THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 26, 1997 TAG: 9701260253
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 66 lines
Free-throw shooting uncharacteristically was an ally for Norfolk State on Saturday night.
The Spartans hit 16 of their last 18 free-throw attempts en route to an 83-70 victory over Virginia State before a crowd of 7,993 at Echols Arena. Norfolk State (11-5, 6-2 CIAA), which shot 70 percent from the line, made more than 60 percent of its free throws for the first time in eight games.
``Obviously, that's better,'' NSU coach Mike Bernard said. ``Maybe a change is going to take place.''
The charity-stripe festivities began when Virginia State was charged with its 10th foul with 10:15 left in the game, putting NSU in a two-shot situation the rest of the way. NSU, which was 20 of 27 from the line in the second half, hit its first eight after being in the double bonus.
``We concentrated more,'' said NSU guard Maurice Whitfield, who was 6 of 8 from the line during the stretch. ``It was a team effort.''
But the fact that NSU had 22 more shots than Virginia State (40-18) did not escape Trojans coach Ralph Traynham.
``No high counsel has given us the benefit of the calls all season,'' Traynham said of the officiating. ``We don't put ourselves in the position, either. We don't box out.''
For the game, the Trojans (5-13, 2-8) were outrebounded 42-32. The lack of rebounding kept high-scoring Virginia State from maintaining a fast tempo.
``I knew we had to play sound defense and execute on offense,'' Traynham said, ``and, obviously, we didn't execute our offense. We haven't played good defense all season.''
NSU limited Virginia State to 21 first-half points on 8-of-29 shooting (28 percent). The Trojans shot 58 percent in the second half but never got closer than nine points and trailed by as many as 17.
``The first half, we were intense,'' Bernard said. ``The second half, we got caught up in the running game.''
And part of that running game for NSU was guard Dion Woods.
Woods, who sat during the second half of Thursday's victory over Shaw, came off the bench and led the Spartans with 21 points. The freshman guard scored 16 of his points after intermission, including a pair of 3-pointers and all eight of his free throws.
``The basic thing was, I just kept my head up,'' said Woods, who was held to five points against Shaw.
The starting backcourt of Whitfield and Tajai Young was not too far off the pace. Each guard scored 17 points. Whitfield also finished with seven assists, finishing two shy of passing Darren Sanderlin as fourth on the school's all-time list.
Yet, the exceptional guard play was not limited to the NSU side.
Elgren Green, a Norcom graduate and the CIAA scoring leader, finished with a game-high 26 points for the Trojans.
``We got the usual production from Elgren Green but we did not have anyone to match him,'' Traynham said.
Nor did Virginia State have anyone to keep up with Rodney Carmichael.
Depsite missing minutes in the second half with four fouls, Carmichael record his fourth straight double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The Spartans go on the road with games at Winston-Salem State and Bowie State on Monday and Thursday. ILLUSTRATION: L. TODD SPENCER photo
Virginia State's Dennis Calloway, left, leaps to deter Norfolk
State's Maurice Whitfield. The Spartans defeated the Trojans 83-70
on Saturday night in Echols Arena.