THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 9, 1997 TAG: 9702090222
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ETTRICK LENGTH: 52 lines
At a great time of need Saturday night, Norfolk State coach Mike Bernard turned to his assistants.
``Assistant coaches (Erik) Rashad and (Mel) Coleman suggested we get into a half-court press and we made that defensive adjustment,'' Bernard said.
The switch propelled the Spartans to a game-ending 26-4 run for a 77-67 victory over Virginia State before a crowd of 2,487 at Daniel Gymnasium in CIAA action.
NSU (15-6, 10-3 CIAA) trailed 63-51 with 9:02 remaining but held the Trojans (5-17, 2-11) to just two free throws and a putback the rest of the way.
``We realized we weren't playing hard,'' said NSU guard Tajai Young, who finished with 17 points and five rebounds. ``We had to step it up on defense and make something happen and that's what we did.''
Sparked by reserve Dion Woods, the Spartans scored 11 straight and then took the lead for good, 70-67, on Rodney Carmichael's 3-point play with 3:29 remaining. ``That broke their backs,'' Young said.
Woods, who had played sparingly in NSU's previous four games, scored eight of his 11 points in the final 7:11.
VSU, on the other hand, could make nothing happen down the stretch.
If the Trojans did not commit a turnover or rush a shot, their jumpers rimmed out. Even in the closing seconds, Dennis Calloway could not convert an alley oop dunk attempt.
``We got a little bit complacent and started relaxing,'' VSU coach Ralph Traynham said. ``We didn't run the offense the way we should have.''
The Trojans went on a 12-1 run to take a 54-44 lead with 12:06 left in the game.
After NSU responded with a jumper by Mauice Whitfield, Calloway threw down a thunderous dunk that put the Trojans back up by 10. But instead of being a momentum builder, the dunk became the beginning of the end for Calloway and the Trojans.
Calloway scored only six of his game-high 23 points in the final 10 minutes including the Trojans only four in the game's final nine minutes.
``We forgot to run the plays we wanted to,'' Traynham said. ``In the first half, we went right into him.''
Virginia State shot 58 percent in the first half but just 38 in the second.
``They got excellent shot selection and we needed to do something to get them out of their offense,'' Bernard said.
And while Traynham could not count on his big man throughout, Carmichael was a factor from start to finish for NSU.
Carmichael scored 12 of the Spartans first 16 points and seven in the final eight minutes. He recorded his second straight double-double, finishing with team highs of 22 points and 12 rebounds.