THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 2, 1997 TAG: 9702020281
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 60 lines
Virginia Union gave Norfolk State a rude sendoff to Division I on Saturday.
NSU, which moves out of the CIAA and up to Division I next season, trailed most of the way in falling to Virginia Union 77-54 before 1,500 at the Richmond Coliseum.
The Panthers (12-10, 8-4 CIAA) avenged last month's loss to Norfolk State at Echols Arena, snapped the Spartans' (13-6, 8-3) five-game winning streak, won their seventh straight home game against NSU and handed the Spartans their worst defeat of the season.
``We played a bad game,'' said NSU guard Maurice Whitfield, who scored 11 points on 5-of-17 shooting. ``We just didn't execute. We got outhustled.''
Unless the two rivals meet in the CIAA tournament - which they have the previous four seasons - Saturday was the last conference match for the foes, and one the Spartans would like to forget.
NSU tied a season-low with 34 percent field-goal shooting, was held to its lowest point total of the year and was out rebounded 53-34.
``The difference was Union out-played us in every phase,'' NSU coach Mike Bernard said. ``The biggest phase was we did not allow them one shot. They got two and three shots. We did not rebound. If you don't do that, you won't win.''
Virginia Union had 22 offensive rebounds - three more than NSU had on the defensive glass. And rebounding was only half the story.
The Panthers blocked nine shots, five by the conference leader Jerome Spellman. And not all of the blocks were on inside shot attempts. NSU had several 3-point attempts slapped into the seats.
``We tried to work hard, maintain rebounds and play good solid defense,'' said Panthers forward Emmanuel Delk, who finished tied with team-highs of 13 points and seven rebounds.
Virginia Union, 5-1 since losing to NSU, opened the game with an 8-0 run and held the Spartans scoreless for the first 3:53.
After a series of runs, NSU took a 16-13 lead with 10:19 left following a Rodney Carmichael layup to cap a 11-0 spurt. The Spartans would go nearly eight minutes before they scored another field goal and trailed 31-24 at halftime.
``I knew we were playing good defense,'' Panthers coach Dave Robbins said of his team holding NSU to 28 percent from the field in the opening half. ``At halftime, we just talked about limiting our mistakes.''
A goal, at least from a statistical standpoint, Virginia Union did not reach.
The Panthers committed nine of their 19 turnovers and shot only 37 percent after intermission. However, the low numbers were of little consequence as the Spartans could establish no consistency.
Virginia Union opened the second half with a 14-6 run and led by at least 10 the rest of the way.
``This undoubtedly was the worst performance by our big people,'' Bernard said following a 25-minute meeting with his team. ``Our big people did not play. Anytime you allow big people to get two and three shots, the game is being dominated 10 feet away from the basket ... you allow them high percentage shots.''
While Carmichael led NSU with 15 points, the Spartans starting frontcourt combined for only 23 points and 14 rebounds.