DATE: Wednesday, November 19, 1997          TAG: 9711190737

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   55 lines

ODU AND NORFOLK STATE SROP OPENERS THE SPARTAN MEN SUFFER GROWING PAINS IN THEIR FIRST GAME IN DIVISION I

Lesson One in Division I 101 was a painful eye-opener for the Norfolk State Spartans, who absorbed a 70-45 pounding from St. Francis (Pa.) in their season opener Tuesday night at Echols Arena.

The Spartans, playing their first game as a Division I team, shot just 25 percent from the field, were out-rebounded by 28 and were repeatedly beaten defensively both in the paint and on the perimeter.

``Our youth and inexperience showed in every way tonight,'' Norfolk State coach Mike Bernard said. ``Obviously, the result was a disastrous performance.''

After playing against only themselves since practice began Oct. 18, the Spartans said they were eager to face some outside competition. Perhaps a bit too eager, as it turned out, for none of them could make a shot in the early going.

Junior-college transfer Kevin Perry, the 6-3 guard who has displayed the skills that might make him the Spartans' top scorer this season, missed all seven of his first-half shots and hit only one of his 12 attempts for the game. Freshman forward Darrell Neal, another who has shown flashes of star potential, saw his first two attempts blocked on his way to an 0-for-7 night.

``We didn't allow ourselves to run our offense,'' Spartans forward Greg Jones said. ``Seems like we weren't focusing on making the shots, just taking them.''

The Spartans wound up shooting 16 percent for the half, and only aggressive forays to the hoop by much-improved Jones and a couple of three-pointers from guard Damian Woolfolk allowed them to get out of the opening 20 minutes trailing by only six at 23-17.

``The team needed some type of spark, so I tried to take it to the basket,'' Jones said. ``Anything to pick up morale. But it still didn't happen.''

When the Spartans continued to misfire in the second half, St. Francis (2-0) slowly built its advantage behind the outside shooting of Sortiris Aggelou (5 of 10 3-pointers, a game-high 19 points) and the inside power of center Eric Taylor (a game-high 22 rebounds).

The final five minutes featured a dizzying flurry of Red Flash jumpers and putbacks as they closed the game on a 16-5 run.

``We have some lessons to learn, and hopefully we learned one tonight,'' Bernard said. ``Obviously, we can play at this level. But our guys need to grow up and realize this is Division I basketball, not Division II basketball.''

For Jones, the best part about Tuesday's game is that it's over.

``Now we know what to expect,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

NHAT MEYER/The Virginian-Pilot

St. Francis' Sortiris Aggelou goes for steal against Norfolk State's

Greg Jones Tuesday night at NSU's Echols Arena.

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