Page B2-The Chronicle, Thursday, March 15, 1984
NCAA Division II
Norfolk State i
By ROBERT ELLER
Chronicle Sports Editor
NORFOLK -- Virginia Union, thwarted in its attempt
to play a rubber match against Norfolk State in the CI AA
tournament, made the most of another chance at its rival
in the NCAA Division 11 South Atlantic Regionals last
weekend in Norfolk.
By beating the No. 1-ranked Spartans on the latter's
homecourt 58-56, the Panthers advanced to the Division
11 quarterfinals. They'll face Kentucky Wesleyan, winner
of the Great Lakes region, on March 16 or 17, most likely
at Wesleyan.
Norfolk State, its only previous loss of the season coming
against Union (81-80 in overtime in Richmond) had
won its 29th game of the season in the opening round,
besting Winston-Salem State 70-61.
Meanwhile, Union, ranked fourth in the latest Division
11 poll, teased a 45-40 win from fifth-ranked RandolphMacon
in its opener.
The Panthers, with a sellout crowd of some 7,500
mostly Norfolk supporters looking on, scored the game's
first basket as tournament Most Valuable Player Jamie
Walter followed a miss. Norfolk ail-American David
Pope tied the game with a 20-footer but the Spartans
were never able to knnt the <rnre aoain
mmm
Union Coach Dave Robbins, who led his Panthers to
the Division II title in 1980, credited his team's defensive
effort for the win. "1 told the kids that the only thing that
will win for you against a team like Norfolk is defense
and they gave a great effort," he said.
That effort was evident in the Norfolk shooting
percentage. The Spartans, who shot better than 50 percent
from the floor during the regular season, hit qj\ly 19
of 51 floor shots in the game for a paltry 37.2 percentage
yvhile the Panthers converted 2^pf 47 fiel^goal atjfi*ptt
for 46.8 percent.
But, despite their cold shooting, the Spartans gave
Robbins and his troops some anxious moments in the
hard-fought contest. The Panthers were up only 13-10
when center Charles Oakley was banished to the bench
with his third foul midway through the first half.
But, behind the inspired play of Waller, who scored 13
of his game-high 19 points before intermission, Union
built a 28-21 halftime lead. "We didn't make any big
changes when Charles went out," said Robbins. "We
just went to our passing offense and tried to play a little
naraer on defense."
The Panthers, with Oakley back in the lineup, twice
built 10-point leads in the second half, the last coming on
two free throws by the 6-8 strongman with 8:53 left.
Prep Spotlight
Eagles advance
in state playoffs
By SAM DAVIS
Chronicle Staff Writer
Scrappy East Forsyth outdueled Morganton Freedom
on the backboards en route to a thrilling 61-56 win last
Tuesday night in the first round of the state 4~A playoffs.
Though playing in front of a vocal, standinc-room
only crowd on their own court, the Eagles faced a team
that averaged 6-5 along its froht line and appeared to be
decided underdogs
But East's quickness and tenacious defense were too
much for the visitors.
Center Greg Scales and power forward Chris Davis
keyed the Eagles' win with some inspired play against
taller opponents.
"It was the best game we've played all year," said East
Coach Ken Hayes. "Freedom is an excellent team and we
knew coming into the game that they were tough inside.
"We're not a big team, but if we play good defense our
quickness makes up for our lack of size," said Hayes.
"Tonight our quickness was the key. It was just a total
team effort for us."
Hayes also lauded the rebounding of Chris Davis, who
he said played his best game of the year. "I can't say
enough about the way he banged on the boards tonight,"
Hayes said. "In the past two weeks he's really improved
as a player and, as a result, our team is playing better.
Davis, a rangy 6-2 junior, had 12 rebounds in the game
despite facing off with one of the better front lines in the
state. He also played a smart game, blocking out his man
on the baseline for five offensive rebounds.
In the early going, the teams played nip and tuck, with
neither able to get a substantial lead and one countering
the other's spurts with a scoring spree of its own.
Davis got the Eagles off to a flying start, scoring off a
Calvin Davis miss in the first seven seconds of play. He
was fouled on the play and converted the free throw to
Please see page 83
Sports
alls by two to Unic
"I told the kids the only thing that will win
against a team like Norfolk is defense and they
gave a great effort. "
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Then the Spartans began their comeback, scoring eight
straight points over the next three and a half minutes to
trim the margin to 47-45. With both the Norfolk team
and the capacity Norfolk crowd awakened, Robbins later
admitted he was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable.
"Anytime you see your lead slipping, you worry," he
said. "We had kept the crowd pretty much out of the
game in the first half but they started to come alive,
then."
Union mustered a five-point lead by converting three
?of four free throws. But the game was by no means decided
at that point.
A Greg Williams dunk at the 2:21 mark gave the Panthers
another five-point lead, 52-47, but Williams fouled
out one tick of the clock later. Barry Mullen hit the front
end of the one-aftd-one and, when he missed the second,
Oakley was whistled for his fifth personal while battling
for the rebound.
Mike Smith's free throws cut the lead back to two with
2:20 still remaining and Robbins looked to his bench for
relief. -\_
"When Charles and Greg fouled out, I knew the subs
had to come through and I went with ballhandlers as
replacements," Robbins said.
After Jerry Hargrove scored inside, the Spartans made
two crucial turnovers and a Nathan Eley basket stretched
the lead to six with 39 seconds left.
Norfolk again cut the lead to two on baskets by Mullen
and Pope but Steve Silva hit both ends of a one-and-one
with seven seconds left to assure the win as Pope's basket
with one second on the clock was not enough.
"Not many teams will finish at 29-2," said Norfolk
Coach Charles Christian after taking a few minutes to
talk to his disappointed players. 44I'm proud of my kids.
They played half-healthy. Everytime we made a run we
. had a turnover or a mistake that cost us."
44Union played extremely well. We were missing people
4aside (offensively)* But with Tally not able to do it (tiie
CIAA tourney MVP played with a badly pulled groin
muscle), we had to suck it up and try other things."
St. Augustine's was also a winner in the East Regional
in Gannon, Pa. The Falcons beat sixth-ranked Mansfield
State 65-64 and won the title by topping eighth-ranked
C.W. Post 86-80.
St. Augustine's, which entered the tournament ranked
16th, will now face 15th-ranked Sacred Heart (Conn.) on
March 16 or 17 for the right to advance to the Final Four,
set for Springfield, Mass., on March 23 and 24.
The possibility of an all-CIAA title game has been
averted, however, since the winners of the New England
and Great Lakes chamDionshiD frames will face each
other in the semifinal round.
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An Olympic Moment
North Carolina*s Michael Jordan soars for one of h
nament semifinals last Saturday In Greensboro. J
Duke beat the Tar Heels by a basket to move Into
Gaines wishes he
By ROBERT ELLER
Sports Editor
NORFOLK -- "Bighouse" Gaines, WSSU's Hall of
Fame coach and magician extraordinaire, reached into
his bag of tricks for a couple more of the miracles he's
produced all season last weekend.
But the bag was finally empty and the Rams took it on
the chin from Norfolk State for the third time this year,
falling from the NCAA Division II championship hunt,
70-61.
To make matters worse, the Rams ended what many
are calling one of their most successful seasons on an
even more sour note the following night as they were easily
defeated by Randolph-Macon 69-54 in the South
Atlantic Regional consolation game.
After a weekend that, in the final analysis, did little
more than tack two more losses to WSSU's season
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record, Gaines wished he had stayed on the recruiting trip
he cut short after the CIAA tourney to get his Rams
ready for the playoffs.
"It was obvious we weren't ready to play tonight,"
said an unhappy Gaines after the team's second loss in
two nights of action. "It was a waste of time for us-to
come up here. When you lose two at the end (of the
Black College Sports
The MEAC and its i
By BARRY COOPER
Syndicated Columnist
Should you ever see Ken Free walking around with a
scowl on his face and a wrinkle in his brow, shout the
man a word of encouragement.
He needs it.
Free is the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic
Conference, a courageous group of black colleges that
several years ago decided to take the quantum leap from
the relatively tranquil world of Division II to the cutthroat
atmosphere of the nation's most prestigious col
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lis patented dunks against Duke in the ACC tourordan's
acrobatics weren't enough, however, as
the championship game (photo by Joe Daniels).
tayed at home
season), it destroys the whole year. Consolation games
need to be done away with.
"We didn't move on offense or play sound defense.
They (Randolph-Macon) wanted it more than we did."
The Rams may have indeed been down after Friday's
loss to host Norfolk State. In that game, the Rams fell
behind 18-6 after 10 minutes and spent the rest of the
"It was a waste of time for us to come up here.
When you lose two at the end it destroys the
whole season. "
... ? 'Bighouse'*Gaines j
contest trying to play catch-up. They never did.
But they did make the contest interesting in the final 12
minutes. Trailing 42-29 with 13:50 left, Gaines brought*
Troy Russell, who had played little more than five
minutes in the first half after not starting, into the game.The
senior all-CIAA pick proceeded to score the Rams',
next 10 points over a two-minute span as he brought his
team to within five, 44-37. ' ?
The Rams looked as if they might get even closer after
Please see page B4
troubled tournament
legiate club, Division I.
There have been more problems than Free has had time
to solve, ranging from Florida A&M's sudden decision to
leave the league to trying to establish round-robin play in
baseball and other spring sports.
Few things, however, have given Free as many
headaches as the MEAC basketball tournament, which,,
many had expected to be the league's big money-maker...
It has not turned out that way.
Though the MEAC tourney has not lost money in rePlease
see page B3