DATE: Wednesday, November 26, 1997          TAG: 9711260646

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DOUG DOUGHTY, LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE 

DATELINE: NEWARK, DEL.                      LENGTH:   38 lines

U.VA. TOYS WITH DELAWARE IN RUNNING RECORD TO 3-1 NOLAN GOES BEHIND THE BACK TO SEAL THE DEAL.

There he was, steaming down the court, trying to beat a double-team as Virginia was clinging to a five-point lead.

For maybe the first time in his four-year U.Va. basketball career, 6-foot-8, 253-pound Norman Nolan decided to dribble behind his back.

``Just a quick flick of the wrist. Then, run and catch up to it,'' he said.

``I was holding my breath,'' coach Jeff Jones said.

``I was, too, after it got away from me,'' Nolan said.

When he finally ran the ball down, Nolan found himself next to the basket and coolly laid the ball off the glass as the Cavaliers (3-1) held on for a 64-57 win at Carpenter Center.

``We were concerned coming up here because we're still finding our way a little bit,'' Jones said after his team's third win in a row. ``Delaware hadn't been playing particularly well, but we knew they were a dangerous team.''

U.Va. led 44-30 with less than eight minutes remaining. Delaware (1-3) started to crash the boards and closed to 51-46 following a pair of Kestutis Marciulonis free throws with 2:44 left.

That's when Nolan took over.

After hitting the layup, Nolan did something almost as rare, picking up an assist when he fed Chase Metheney for the basket that made it 55-46. Nolan finished with 14 points despite being limited to 18 minutes by foul trouble.

Indeed, there was cause for concern when Nolan sat down after two quick fouls in the first half, but U.Va. got unexpected contributions from Colin Ducharme and Hand.

Ducharme, a former starter who has been coming off the bench in recent games, had 11 points in 20 minutes. Hand had 10 points in 25 minutes, easily his longest stint of the season.

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