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Tenacious defense
led Rams to title
"I
I From The Press Box
Defense wins championships.
Always has, always will. If you don't believe
that, just ask Elizabeth City State.
TTie Vikings came into last Saturday night's
championship game in the CIAA Tournament
with a lot of confidence. The Vikings boasted the
league's top scorer in William Fitzgerald and one
of the most imposing front lines to play in the
league in many years.
The Vikings had little doubt in their minds
that they will easily carry home the championship
banner after struggling to get past North Caroli
na Central in the semifinals last Friday night.
With their NBA looking front line and the 6
8 Fitzgerald in the backcourt, the Vikings figured
it would be just a matter of time before they head
ed to center court to pick up the hardware to take
back home
They were a loose bunch as they sang in the
corridor leading to the arena. There they stood,
looking down at their opponents and seeming to
say to the Rams "you guys don't stand a chance".
That's what a lot of people thought about the
Rams' chances heading into the tournament.
They had a daunting task after finishing in a tie
for the division and winding up with the CIAA's
Western Division No. 2 seed.
But after the dust settled on the playing floor
of the UVM, it was the Rams who stood in the
winner's circle And like the Rams opponent the
previous night, the Vikings were still trying to fig
Photo by Bruce Chapman
Tyrone Thomas stools the boh away from Elizabeth City in the championship gome.
ure out how they ended up with one of their
worst offensive shooting nights of the season.
Although they refused to give Coach Rick
Duckett and the Rams proper credit for shutting
them down with a variety of defenses, that was
the story of the game Just as it had been in
WSSU's 66-50 win over Virginia Union the previ
ous night, the Rams had wreaked havoc with the
See Prau Box on B3
Bowie State wins Women's CIAA Tourney title for third year in row
DAMON FORD
?Jit fnanwin k
Once., twice... three times a
champion.
That's what can be Said
about the Ladies of Bowie
State. The Lady Bulldogs once
again took home the champi
onship trophy.
With Rashida Brooks sup
plying the firepower, Bowie
State captured the 1999 CI A A
Tournament Championship for
the third consecutive year by
beating Fayetteville State Uni
versity 71-55.
The Bulldogs, who beat the
Broncos 61-36 in the 1997 tour
nament final, joined former
CIAA member Norfolk State
University as the only schools
to win the championship in
three consecutive years.
Powered by the 20-point, 15
rebound and six block effort of
CIAA Women's Player of the
Year and tournament MVP
Brooks, Bowie held the Broncos
to 28 percent shooting for the
game and forced 30 turnovers.
"We were determined to
play Fayetteville man-to-man
for 40 minutes," said Coach Ed
Davis of Bowie State. "I think
at the beginning of the game
the defense caused them to do
some things they normally
don't do."
Sonja Walker of the Bron
cos, who was coming off a 15
point, 15-rebound performance
against North Carolina Central
in the semi-finals, struggled to
get untracked against the inside
trio of Brooks (6-5) and Trenita
Shields (6-0) and Deidra Fields
(6-2).
The 6-2 senior was held to
"two points on one of six shoot
ing and three rebounds while
Brooks, Shields and Fields
roamed the middle freely to
combine for 19 points and 12
boards.
While Bowie's inside game
flourished their perimeter game
was non-existent. All totaled
the Bulldog guards and wing
players,shot three for 14 in the
first half, which became a fac
tor in a three and half minute
scoring drought that gave the
scrappy Broncos some life.
FSU, known for it's full
court press kept the pressure on
Bowie and was able to to get
within three points, 31-28 at the
break behind Marian Moore's
10 points.
Davis was more than a little
upset at his teams play in the
first 20 minutes. They shot a
porous 35 percent from the
field and went away from their
low post game.
As a matter of fact Davis
had a few choice words in the
Bulldog locker room that lit a
fire under the two-time defend
ing champions and got them
rolling after the break, much to
the chagrin of Bronco's coach
Eric Tucker.
"We felt pretty good about
where we were at the half," said
Tucker. "In the second half the
See CIAA Women on B3
OHy, Wake Forest at top of gpe
as Dew enter ACC Tournament
By SAM DAVIS
The Chronicle
With his team's post-season
aspirations weighing in the bal
ance, Robert O'Kelly of Wake
Forest pieced together the best
two-game stretch of his career
last week,
A national audience looked
on as O'Kelly scored a career
high 32 points when the Deacons
battled North Carolina to a
standoff in regulation before
dropping a 68-65 overtime deci
sion to the Tarheels in Chapel
Hill.
. O'Kelly then stepped up last
Sunday in the Deacons' regular
season finale. He scored 24
points to help the Deacons take a
lopsided, 72-45, victory over
North Carolina State. The victo
ry allowed the Deacons to secure
fourth place in the ACC's regular
season standings and-boost Wake
Forest to an upper echelon fin
ish.
The win didn't guarantee the
De'acops a berth in the NCAA
Tournament field, but it did serve
notice that Wake Forest is a team
to watch in this week's ACC
Tournament in Charlotte. The
Deacons will face the Wolfpack
in a rematch on Friday needing a
win to earn a slot in the tourna
ment field.
O'Kelly said the Deacons
came out on Sunday with a pur
pose.
"We pretty much knew what
we had to do," O'Kelly said. "We
wanted to close out the season
with a win and we had to focus
on what we were doing. We came
put fast and made some shots
and things just started to go our
way. There are days like this
when whatever you do goes well
for you."
Coach Dave Odom tried to
O'Kelly
downplay the blowout win.
"There's no way that we're
that much better than State,"
Odom said. "I think we're two
evenly matched teams and today
was just our day and things just
went well for us."
However, he couldn't hide the
fact that the Deacons had their
way with the Wolfpack and put
Set O'KtHy im 13
'Bighouse' Gaines watches from wings
as Rams capture CIAA championship
By DAMON FORD
TheChbonicle
, The Winston-Salem State
University mens basketball team
had just won the 1999 CIAA
tournament championship and
in the midst of the celebratory
bedlam stood a proud Clarence
"Bighouse" Gaines.
Wearing a red blazer, similar
to the one worn by Rams' coach
and hometown boy Rick Duck
ett, Gaines gushed with jubila
tion and was clearly enamored in
the moment.
The last time he had experi
enced this feeling was 22 years
ago as a coach himself.
"It's been so long, but you're
always happy when you win,"
Gaines said. "I think you can see
the fans have got themselves into
it. They believe in the (program)
and they believe in Rick Duckett
and they believe we're back on
our winning ways now."
"Winning?"
That's a word that hasn't
been paired with the men's bas
ketball team in quite some time.
As a matter of fact you have to
go back to the late 80s to find a
winning Rams' team.
But did it have to . take so
long for WSSU fans to taste suc
cess again? The legendary coach
doesn't think so.
"The secret to winning in
athletics is personnel," Gaines
Oainmt
said. "Great players make great
coaches. (Duckett) had good
players, last year (Sam Hanger)
had good players.
"(The Rams) were right on
the brink (of winning a champi
onship), with a little hard work,
improvement in technique and
all that sort of thing. You coukk
see tonight that (Duckett) had
worked that trapping defense
kept El;/abeth City off balance
all night."
Before Duckett had taken
over the reins of the Rams this
season, the men's basketball pro
gram had been floundering.
Gaines, who had coached
the team for 48 years and
amassed 826 wins had struggled
to field competitive teams in his
last few years before stepping
See Gaines on B5
Photo by Bruce Chapman I"
Rashida Brook'* intido power wo* too much for Fayetteville State.
Loss to WSSU in CIAA Tournament semis
means Virginia Union snubbed by NCAA
By SAM DAVIS ?
The Chronicle *? .
How times have changed!
When the NCAA Division II
playoffs begin tonight, Virginia
Union will be sitting on the side
line watching for only the third
time in 21 years since Coach
Dave Robbins took over the Pan
thers' basketball program.
The Panthers, who have
claimed 10 CIAA Tournament
championships, 13 regular season
CIAA titles, five NCAA Division
II regional crowns and two
National Championships, was
left out of the field of 48 teams
announced last Sunday by the
selection committee.
The Panthers went into last
week's CIAA championship as
the favorite to come away with
the trophy. However, Union
slipped against Winston-Salem
State in the semifinals and was
William Davit
knocked out of the tournament
by the Rams, who went on to win
"5.
the title.
Robbins said his team didn't
play well in the tournament's
quarterfinal round victory over*
Bowie State and that was the"
beginning of his team's troubles.
"I didn't think we played well
(against Bowie)," Robbins said.
"We didn't shoot the ball well
and we didn't have much intensi
ty"
It got even worse against Win
ston-Salem State. The Panthers
made only 18 of 54 shots from
the field. The Rams, switching up
defenses nearly every few posses
sions up the court, outplayed the.
larger Panthers. WSSU finished
the game with 44 rebounds to .
Union's 28. the Rams also had
the upper hand in field goal
shooting and free throw shoot
ing. WSSU made 21 of 50 shots,
from the field, but the difference"
was at the line where the Rams
See Union on 13
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