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SB a ass 2L??m Tournament
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ABANDONED
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from B1 .
and even bad at some points in
the season. But the bottom line
was this team was more success
ful than any other in recent in
the last decade.
WSSU came into the tourna
ment with some momentum
after winning four of the final
five games during the regular
season. That might have been
the confidence the Rams needed
to knock off Virginia Union in
their opening round game. The
Rams then extracted a large
measure of revenge against an
old nemisis. WSSU hadn't
defeated North Carolina Central
in more than six years, but took
out their frustrations in an emo
tional victory in the quarterfinal
round that bounced the Eagles
from the tournament.
Everything appeared to be
headed the Rams way as they
made preparations for their bat
tle with Fayetteville State to
determine which team would
advance to the championship
game.
The Rams victory over
North Carolina Central sapped
them of a lot of energy and
going into Friday's game they
were a team that desparately
needed an emotional boost.
Unfortunately, they never
got the boost that they needed.
The players did the best job they
could of regrouping in time for
their battle against the Broncos.
Then early in the game Darryl
Hardy, the team's leading scored
and rebounder suffered a hyper
extended knee. But rather than
?staying on the bench, he hobbled
back on the court for more and
spent the rest of the game bat
tling on the boards and provid
ing inside scoring while playing
on one leg.
Too bad the Rams' fans
didn't give the team the same
kind of effort. If they had WSSU
might have had a chance to go
into Saturday's championship
game against St. Augustine's.
And who knows, they might
have had a chance to capture the
title.
They, however, never got the
chance. The same fans who had
been pushing the Rams down the
stretch of games against Union
and Central were just sitting
back and watchinjg the action
unfold in the loss to Fayetteville.
/
What the Rams needed to
give them a boost was a real
home-court advantage. Often
times in sports the roar of a par
tisan crowd is enough to offset
the fatigue that players experi
ence. Players feed off of a fired
up crowd and often dig deep
within themselves to find some
thing that they didn't think was
there. That can be the difference
between winning and losing in
sports.
Too often in sports and
everyday life people use the
expression, "put your money
where your mouth is". Pardon
the broken english, but in this
particular situation the Ram
faithful needed to do just the
opposite. In this case, they need
ed to "put their mouths where
their money is".
There were a lot of Rams in
the crowd of 10,300 that were in
the Lawrence Joel Veterans
Memorial Coliseum last Friday
night. But most of them were
busy socializing and carrying on
with other activities associated
with the annual tournament.
There's nothing wrong with that.
But when their beloved Rams
had left everything out on the
court, the WSSU fans needed to
rise to the occasion and provide
the fan support.
Perhaps they didn't know
what was at stake. Everyone
loves a winner, but in order to
have a winner everyone has to
pitch in. Coach Hanger and the
team did its part by getting the
Rams to the brink of success.
All they needed was just a little
help from their friends. Instead
they got the cold shoulder treat
ment. ' '>
WSSU's fans, band and
cheerleaders need to take a page
out of the Fayetteville support
program. The Broncos cheered
in unison at every opportunity
afforded them. When the pep
band couldn't play during play
on the court they stood up and
cheered wildly and the cheers
were organized if not choreo
graphed. FSU even had a pep
team that cheered, danced and
yelled constantly throughout the
tournament. That might not have
helped the Broncos to play bet
ter on the court, but it sure gave
them the confidence of knowing
they had a support team. It's
about time the same thing hap
pens for WSSU.
i
THROWN AWAY
from Bl
(46 percent) but was out
rebounded 47-29.
Particularly disturbing to
Duckett was his showing at the
free throw line where the Bron
cos made only 17 of 37 free
throws.
However, they managed to
keep a big enough margin to
prevent Winston-Salem from
overtaking them in the second
half.
FSU started the game slug
gishly on offense. The Broncos
found themselves down 5-2 in
the opening minutes of the
game, but rallied behind the play
of Larry Bratcher to go up 16-12
with 11:09 to play in the first
half.
Winston-Salem State put
together a run of its own to tie
the game at 21-21 with 7:15 to
go in the half. Phillip Allen of
FSU got untracked and keyed a
Bronco spurt that gave them a
37-29 lead at the half.
WSSU was hampered in the
closing minutes of the half after
Darryl Hardy, its 6-8 center,
went to the bench after hyper
extending his knee. Hardy, who
came into the game averaging 22
points and 14 rebounds in the
two Rams wins, scored nine
first-half points, but missed three
minutes after the injury and FSU
extended its lead while he was
on the WSSU bench.
FSU got a 3-pointer from
Jason Tunstall to start the second
half and Broncos had their way
in the opening minutes of the
second half. FSU got its lead up
to 42-32 on Bratcher's dunk
with 17:10 left in the game. The
Broncos margin stayed from six
to nine points over the next five
minutes before WSSU got a fol
low shot and two free throws
from Larry Patterson to cut the
gap to 53-49 with 9:01 remain
ing.
Duckett called a 20-second
timeout and the Broncos
responded by scoring on their
next two possessions for a 56-49
lead with 8:16 to play. WSSU
got the lead down to 56-51 on
Hardy's free throws, but the
Rams didn't get any closer the
rest of the way. The Rams had
the lead to six and had the ball
with 22.2 seconds remaining
but missed consecutive 3
pointers and FSU was able to
hold on to move into the cham
pionship game for the first time
since they won the 1973 cham
pionship game by defeating
Norfolk State.
Duckett said he thought
before the game that the team
that persevered would win. Like
WSSU, the Broncos came into
the semifinal round after pulling
off an emotional, upset win in
the quarterfinal round.
"What we saw tonight was
one team outlasting the other,"
Duckett said. "There was so
much emotion in last night's
game. I thought i would be a let
down for both teams. I thought
the game would be determined
by whichever team had enough
grit to grind it out." I
Bratcher led the Bronco^
with 18 points, Tunstall scored '
IS, Darrin Johnson had 13 and
David Brown added 10.
Hardy was the only WSSty *
player in double figures with 23
points. He also had a game-high
14 rebounds for the Rams, whp
finished the season 15-13. Fayet
teville State improved to 15-13 I
before losing to St. Augustine's J
in the championship game. I
%
Darryl Hardy of WSSU goes up for two of his game-high 22 points in the
Rams win over North Carolina Central Hardy scored 67 points in three
games and was named to the all-tournament team.
.
Persistence paid off for Bowie
from B1
Did she feel any pressure to
lead her team to the title?
"There wasn't any pres
sure," Lemons said. "We just
had to realize what we had to do
and go out and execute."After
signing with Bowie State and
Coach Ed Davis, Lemons said
she expected big things.
Although the program was at a
low point. Lemons said she felt
she and the freshmen in her
class would lead the Bulldogs
program to better days.
"I did envision winning the
CIAA Tournament," Lemons
said.
"I just didn't think it would
: take four years." Last year the
Bulldogs started out strong.
Bowie finished second during
the regular season and advanced
to the tournament semifinals
before suffering a controversial
loss. This time they were not to
be denied by anything.
i 1
Brandey Lemons
"For me the key to this team
was its persistence," Davis
said."It is an honor to win the
tournament. It was a major chal
lenge for us at Bowie State. It
means a lot to our student body,
the alumni and our fans."
Lemons was one of a solid
group of seniors who anchored
the unit.
Before the team started we
got together and dedicated our
selves to winning the tourna
ment," Lemons said. "We put in
a lot of blood, sweat and tears to
get here. In the off-season we
were out on the track in 90
degree heat and in the gym
where it seemed like it was ISO
degrees. But that made us like
family. Sometimes we get mad
at each other, but on the court
we stick together through thick
and thin."Although she said
there was no pressure on her,
Lemons said the players on the
team look to her to set the
tempo for the team on and off
the court."! feel as though I
have to be the. leader," Lemons
said. "My teammates look to me
as a leader. When they look to
me I can't disappoint them, I
can't let them down."
Kim McCall, Yolanda
Matthews and Dawn Hancock
were all in Davis' first recruit
ing class at Bowie. There were
some others as well, but they
didn't make it through their first
three seasons. But the four that
did stay formed the nucleus of
this year's team.
In addition to Lemons' 15.5
points and 3.5 rebounds, McCall
supplied 7.0 points and 4.8
rebounds, Winstead was fourth
on the team with a 5.9 scoring
average and 4.0 rebounds and
Winstead was next with 5.2
points, 60 assists and 29
rebounds on the season.
"We're a close group,"
Lemons said. "We came togeth
er and had confidence in Coach
Davis and what he told us when
he recruited us."
Coming out of high school
four years ago. Lemons said she
was all set to attend Norfolk
State before Davis was able to
convince Lemons and her moth
er to visit the Bowie campus.
"When Coach Davis was
recruiting me I liked what he
said, but I had decided to go to
Norfolk," said Lemons, a Rich
mond, Va. native. "I had signed
the national letter of intent and
was about to mail it back to
Norfolk when my mother talked
me into visiting Bowie."
"When we visited Bowie, I
fell in love with it," Lemons
added. "I really liked the people
and the things that Coach Davis
talked with me about. He said
he was going to turn this pro
gram around and I believed
him."
Rather than join a program
that was well-established, it
made better sense to Lemons to
? I
go somewhere where she coult?
helpestablish a program.
"Coach Davis convinced m$
that I could help turn the pro}
gram around and we could bf
conference champions," Lemons
said.
Even though the Bulldogs
had to live through some toujh
days in the first year, Lemofts
said she never doubted that the
Bulldogs would reach their
goals. y
"Coach Davis was always
fair, but he was tough on us,"
Lemons said. "He expects noth
ing less than the best from us. If
we go out and give 100 percent,
he wants more. He wants us fo
give 150 percent. He knows how
to get it out of us. When it
seems like you can't do any
more, he knows you can always
dig a little deeper."
i St. Augustine's makes history
from B1
ule."
All through the week Lee
; called the Falcons a "team of
destiny". It began after his team
defeated Norfolk State in the
quarterfinals. Then in Friday
nigh's semifinal victory over
; Elizabeth City, Lee said "God's
hand is on St. Augustine's".
; When they captured the cham
pionship game, Lee said his
team had been "tried in the
fire".
Tin happy to be surround
ed by this group of fine young
men," he said. "We've been
through some ups and downs,
but in the end we always find a
way to iron things out. In a way
it's been tough. But God has a
way of evening things out in the
end."
Bernard Heard and Eric
Harris combined to score 18
points to lead the Falcons in
their championship game victo
ry to give St. Augustine's its
first-ever CIAA Tournament
title.
The Falcons, who entered
the CIAA in 19S3, had taken
home the runner-up trophy on
six separate occasions. They
finished second in the tourna
ment to Winston-Salem State in
their first year in the tourna
ment and also lost in champi
onship games in 1960, '77, '80,
'82 and '84.
St. Augustine's also became
the first team from the Southern
Division to win the men's
championship game since Win
ston-Salem State beat the Fal
cons for the tournament title in
'77.
For much of the game most
of the game it looked like they
would simply coast to victory.
The Falcons led by a 37-20 lead
at the end of the first half and
cruised to a 20-point lead mid
way through the second half.
Chris Elliott's 3-pointer at the
10:24 mark put t#iie Falcons up
by a 54-33 margin.
Fayetteville went on a 19-4
run to cut the lead to 58-53
with 3:14 remaining in the
game. But St. Augustine's,
which turned the ball over 25
times in the game, converted 10
of 15 free throws in the final
2:19 to hold on for the win.
Heard, who was named the
tournament's Most Valuable
Player, made four of five free
throws in the final minutes to
help his team preserve the vic
tory.
"This is truly a dream come
true for us," said Lee, a 1958
graduate of St. Augustine's and
a long-time coach at Goldsboro
High. "We beat a fine, well
coached team."
Lee said he told his team at
intermission to expect a spirited
comeback attempt by the Bron
cos.
"I told my guys at the half
that a good team is going to
always make a run at you," Lee
said. "I tried to prepare them
for it, but we were out of time
outs after using them up early
in the game."
Still the Falcons found a
way to eek out the win.
"Good teams stick together
when the game is on the line,"
Lee said. "Champs find a way
to win and chumps find a way
to lose."
The Falcons, who finished
10-13 in their first season under
Lee, 13-13 in their second sea
son with Lee at the helm and
improved to 23-7 this season,
advanced to the South Atlantic
Region Division II playoffs in
Durham. They will join North
Carolina Central and Elizabeth
City in the six-team field.
St. Augustine's used an 18
3 run in the final 5:38 of the
first half to take their halftime
lead.
Elliott and Heard led the
charge. Harris got the run start
ed when he took a pass frdm
Elliott under the basket and put
in a layup for a 21-16 lead.
After a Fayetteville State miSs,
Heard got the ball down low
and posted up for a short
jumper. Heard connected (4 the7
shot, was fouled and made the
free throw to give the Falcons a
24-16 lead.
Following a free throw by
Jonathan Grissett of FSU,
Julian Pitt converted an alley
oop toss above teh rim for a 26
17 St. Aug's lead. Joseph Befct
got in the act at teh 4:16 mafk
when he took a pass from
Elliott and scored a layup
behind the Broncos defense. '
'