Press Box
from page Bl
Vikings' shooting percentages.
"We threw everything we had at
them," Duckett said. "We wanted to
give them a good dose of all our
defenses."
The Rams rotated between a
[?full-court man-to-man, 2-2-1 full
;* court press and 3-2 half-court zone.
.WSSU broke the Vikings' offensive
[rhythm by catching ECSU off
-guard. With only one proven ball
handler in the game, the Vikings
were easy prey for the Rams. WSSU
[-was able to trap the Vikings and
[Tthen get in the passing lanes to pick
-off their passes. That strategy helped
the Rams to get into their running
game and by halftime they were out
to a 38-31 lead.
;?? Instead of getting better at solv
?*ing the Rams pressure, the Vikings
got worse in the second half. Once
dgain Duckett made adjustments at
the half. This time the Rams' "amoe
. ba" defenses kept the Vikings off
, balance and the Rams were the ones
? having a fun time. Before the Vikings
[?Could catch their breath the Rams.
? had taken their biggest lead pf the
? [ game at 62-39, with 10:55 left in the
[game.
[?[ A television timeout was the
' only thing that could stop the Rams'
charge. Coach Barry Hamler of
ECSU must have said something to
finally speak to the urgency of the
situation. When the Vikings
returned to the court they played
? like a fire had been lit under them.
[[- Elizabeth City cut into the
Rams' lead and worked it down to
[ seven points on Che' Lugo's short
? jumper with 2:47 to play. But the
? Rams' defense ?md defense bailed
[.[them out. The Vikings managed
[ only one more field goal the rest of
the way and the Rams hit 21 of 22
free throws to seal the win.
By doing so, they resurrected
memories of the past when Coach
Bighouse Gaines' team stood in the
winner's circle on a regular basis. It
was an emotional time for Duckett.
"My first thoughts were of my
brother;" said Duckett, whose broth
er Kenny Duckett (former Wake
Forest and NFL player) passed away
last summer after a long bout with
diabetes. "1 was thinking about how
the last time 1 was here and Kenny
was here watching us play. He was
always there to support me."
For much of the tournament, it
looked like the Rams just might have
a guardian angel looking down
upon them. After failing to reach the
tournament championship game in
21 previous tries, few people gave
them a chance of getting there this
season, despite their strong finish in
the league.
Then it looked like the tourna
ment pairings were stacked against
them. First they had to get past
under-achieving St. Paul's, which
might have been the league's dark
horse With three-time Player of the
Year, Antwaine Smith, and a good
supporting cast, the Tigers had all
the ingredients to cook up a title
They showed that against
WSSU. St. Paul's gave the Rams all
they wanted and appeared to have
the game put away twice But the
Rams made the stops that they had
to have and Tyrone Thomas' buzzer
beating shots in regulation and in
overtime lifted the Rams to victory.
After such a dramatic finish and
expending a lot of energy in the
post-game celebration, you figured
the Rams might be a little flat in
their next matchup, against Virginia
Union.
The Panthers were the favorites
tii . __
Tyrone Thomas
coming in and had another incentive
on their side They had fallen victims
to the Rams by more than 20 points
when the teams met on a previous
occasion. Certainly, you figured, the
powerful Panthers would want to
avenge that lopsided score.
VUU promptly proceeded to
take a 10-0 lead and things weren't
looking good for the Rams.
But their defense started to click
and the Panthers went cold from the
field. By the time VUU looked up,
the Rams were ahead by a 19-13 and
the Panthers had gone 11:29 without
scoring.
Union Coach Dave Robbins is a
class act, but even he didn't give
credit where credit is due.
"Our shooting killed us," he said.
"Not taking anything away from
them, but we didn't hit our shots.
When you're a shooter, you're sup
posed to make the open shot. I
thought we had some open looks,
but we didn't make them."
Rather than commenting him
self, Robbins might have been wise
to let William
Davis do the talking. The senior
guard had his worst game ever in the
tournament in his two-year career.
Last year Davis was named to the
all-tournament team after scoring
92 points in three games. Against the
Rams he scored 18. However, he
made only five of 21 field goals and
connected on only two of 10 3
po inters.
If that isn't testament to the
defensive ability of the Rams, con
sider the fact that as a team Union
was 18 of 54 from the field.
Elizabeth City fared about the
same. The Vikings had a season-low
of 22 field goals in the game, on 59
attempts. In two games, with every
thing on the line, the Rams held their
opponents to a combined total of 40
field goals on 113 attempts (.354).
When you stop the opposition that
frequently, championships have a
way of finding you.
CIAA Women
from page B1
wheels just came off."
After the break Bowie came
out like gangbusters and broke
a close game wide open with a
20-4 run. Brooks and junior
Beverly Winstead combined for
16 points on a variety of lay
ups and several trips to the
charity stripe.
By the time the smoke
cleared the Bulldogs lead 53-32
jind. held a 21 point edge with
12:44 left.
"We wanted to get out on
top (in the second half) fast,"
Brooks said. "Me and Beverly,
being captains have to put the
team on our shoulders. All we
could do is play basketball."
But Tucker and his Broncos
> were not ready to throw in
towel. After a 20 second time
out, FSU continued to do what
they always do well-press.
"We've always pressed,"
?; Tucker said. "It's helter skelter
?' but it gets the job done."
? After two Moore free
throws the Broncos trimmed
*V -*? , f>
Bowie's lead down to. nipe with
four minutes to go. '
But the Bulldogs held FSU
to four points while draining
seven of 10 from the free throw
line the rest of the way.
Joining Brooks in double
figures for the Bulldogs was '
Winstead with 15 points, three
assist and three steals while
Shields finished with 10 points,
eight boards, four assist and
two assist.
The Broncos (16-12) were
lead by Moore's 19 points and
Shaunici Morgan's 10 points.
All-Tournament team hon
ors with to the Bulldogs'
Brooks, Shields and Tiffany
Moss along with the Broncos'
Moore and Walker.
Rounding out the team was
Christa West of Winston-Salem
State University, Amba Kongo
lo of North Carolina Central
University, Livingstone Col
lege's Erica Deas, Virginia
Union's Norfortiria Grant and
Lawanna Davis of Johnson C.
Smith.University.
Union 1JL_
from page Bl
made 19 of 27. The Panthers only
got to the line 13 times and made
nine of them.
Robbins said his team could
n't convert on its opportunities. ?
"We didn't score against them
and we had to change personnel,"
! Robbins said. "We had a bad
' showing Thursday night (in the
quarterfinals) and I think that
carried over some tonight. Our
shooting killed us. Not taking
; anything away from them
(WSSU), but we didn't hit our
shots. When you're a shooter,
you're supposed to make the
open shot. I thought we had some
! open looks." *
After struggling from the field
? against Bowie, Robbins went with
a three-guard offense. The Pan
! thers jumped out to a 10-0 lead to
; start the game. But it was all
; down hill from there. Union went
11:29 without scoring and the
Rams were able to work their lead
up to 19-13 before the Panthers
Kadiri Richard converted a free
throw. VUU didn't score a field
goal until a minute later when
Sadiki Tingling scored on a short
jumper. Winston-Salem State led
by a 28-19 lead at the end of the
half.
William Davis fueled a come
back attempt in the opening min
utes of the second half and the
Panthers closed the gap to 42-39
with 9:38 left in the game. How
ever, they were unable to move
any closer and the Rams
stretched their lead in the game's
final minutes.
Union was ice cold from the
field after Davis' 3-pointer at the
7:47 cut the margin to 49-44. The
Panthers missed 11 of their final
13 shots.
By the same token, WSSU
wasn't exactly scorching the nets.
The Rams made only 21 of 50
shots (.420) for the game.
"I thought we did a good job
against them defensively until the
late in the game," Robbins said.
"We just didn't shoot the ball
well."
Davis, Union's leading scorer.
O'Kelly
'from page Bl
themselves in position to earn a
berth in the NCAA's.
"I think we have a very good
chance," Odom said. "I believe
the NCAA selection committee
will take four or five teams. We
certainly hope they will because
that improves our chances of
getting in."
O'Kelly said all he and his
teammates can do is play basket
ball and not worry about the
other aspects.
"That's something we really
can't worry about," he said. "We
just want to go out and play bas
ketball. I think we have a lot of
confidence going into the tour
nament and we want to have a
chance in the tournament. Right
now I feel like we're playing very
good basketball.
"That was the key today," he
added. "We came out and exe
cuted and that got us out to a big
lead. When you come out like
that you know it's going to be a
big day. Hopefully we'll have
more of them before this season
is over." <
Beverly Winstead of Bowie State take* the ball to the basket against
Fayetteville State.
closed out his career on a sour
note. After helping lead the team
to the Panthers regular season
and tournament championship,
Davis had one of his worst days
at VUU. He hit five of 21 field
goals, including only two of 10 3
pointers. He was the only Union
player in double figures with 18
points. Michael Martin and
Chandar Bingham were next with
eight points.
Apply for
far Loan
|over the
asPhonal
BMiiai
The Chronicle
Congratulates The
Winston-Salem State
Rams On Their CIAA (SImHJ
Championship fe--'
Official Newspaper For CIAA '99
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