DATE: Sunday, March 2, 1997                 TAG: 9703020192

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   55 lines

W&M SURPRISES VCU IN CAA TOURNEY OPENER

For eight long years, the trip from Colonial Williamsburg to the Colonial Athletic Association basketball tournament was a predictable, one-day affair for William and Mary.

Trek up the interstate, lose, then head back home.

All that ended Saturday when the Tribe pulled the first shocker of the CAA tourney, upending Virginia Commonwealth 77-63 at the Richmond Coliseum.

It was the first CAA tournament victory for the Tribe (12-15) since 1988, when they defeated American at the Hampton Coliseum. The triumph sends the Tribe into today's 3:30 p.m. semifinal against Old Dominion, a team William and Mary has beaten twice.

Beating ODU for a third time will be no easy chore, acknowledges Tribe coach Charlie Woollum, who in his third season is slowly resurrecting a previously moribund William and Mary program.

William and Mary has had just one winning season in its last 12, and Woollum is teaching his players something new - how to win.

``I told the kids that I've been there before, and when you win a tournament game, you try to keep going,'' said Woollum, who won 347 games, eight championships and twice went to the NCAA tournament in 19 seasons at Bucknell.

``We're just doing our best to try to build a program. It takes a while. I think we're certainly making progress, but we're not there yet.''

The progress was evident Saturday in a game few thought William and Mary could win. While the Tribe had beaten VCU earlier this year in Williamsburg, the Rams were practically unbeatable on their home court.

Since joining the CAA last season, VCU had gone 16-0 in conference games at the Richmond Coliseum, a place in which the Tribe had not won since 1974. Among those victories was a 77-50 pounding of William and Mary a month ago.

But the Tribe combined sure-handed outside shooting with a swarming defense to defeat the taller, faster and quicker VCU.

``We couldn't shoot the basketball and couldn't get any fast-break baskets against their defense,'' VCU coach Sonny Smith said. ``It was a frustrating game.''

Tribe guard Randy Bracy scored 24 points, including 15 in the first half, when William and Mary led by as many as 14 points. VCU narrowed the gap to four at halftime, then took a shortlived 37-36 lead on a George Byrd layup a minute into the second half.

David Grabuloff, who scored all of his 14 points in the second half, then made a layup to put the Tribe ahead for good, and made critical shots whenever the Tribe seemed to need one. He made two fallaway three pointers that stymied VCU comebacks and a 6-foot jumper at 4:14 that built the Tribe lead to 10.

The Tribe iced the victory with 12 points from the foul line in the final 1:13.

The loss ended a bitterly disappointing season for VCU, the defending CAA champion, at 14-13.

``It's a difficult loss for our seniors,'' Smith said. ``They're feeling it I know.''

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