
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 10, 1991                   TAG: 9102100159
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: D6   EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN 
SOURCE: JOHN SMALLWOOD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: FERRUM                                 LENGTH: Medium

FERRUM FALLS 78-72

Unfortunately for Ferrum College, it was inevitable that Christopher Newport College scoring machine Lamont Strothers would get his game going. When the two-time Division III All-America guard did, as usual, he carried the Captains with him.

After a slow start, Strothers scored 25 of his game-high 29 points over the final 30 minutes as Christopher Newport overcame a double-figure deficit and clinched the Dixie Conference regular-season basketball title with a 78-72 victory on Saturday.

Trailing 28-15 with 9:53 left in the first half, the Captains (20-4 overall, 9-0 Dixie) found their offensive stride, and outscored Ferrum 63-44 the rest of the way. Christopher Newport sealed its first regular-season Dixie title by beating both the second-place Panthers and third-place Averett in less than 24 hours.

"I told them they couldn't let that be a factor, but it had to be," Christopher Newport coach C.J. Woollum said. "We played at 7:30 [Friday night] and came back at 2 p.m. today."

The Panthers (13-9, 6-3) threatened to put the game away early.

Jerry Scarborough scored all eight of his points and Everett Foxx added seven - while holding Strothers to four - as Ferrum sprinted to its 13-point lead. Then the Panthers went cold.

Christopher Newport used a 20-11 run to cut the margin to 39-35 at the half. The Captains might have been closer, but Markeo Williams missed two free throws with four seconds left.

"Ferrum came out so hyped early," Woollum said. "We were just happy to be close at the half."

The Captains closed to 41-39 in the opening minutes of the second half, but Foxx, who led Ferrum with 22 points, knocked down a 3-pointer. Ferrum had possession with a chance to go up even more, but Mark Cottom missed a jumper.

James Boykins, who scored 25 points, got fouled while making a layup and completed the three-point play to pull the Captains to 44-42. Strothers drew Christopher Newport even for the first time since the opening tip when he put in baseline jumper at 17:03.

The teams traded hoops. Then Boykins gave Christopher Newport its first lead with a turnaround jumper with just over 15 minutes remaining.

Ferrum tied the score at 48, but a 3-pointer from Strothers started an 11-4 run. The Panthers got back to two twice in the closing minutes; however, Christopher Newport extended its margin each time with scoring spurts started by Strothers.

"We certainly started out ready to play, and then we got flat for some reason; I have no earthly reason why," Ferrum coach Bill Pullen said. "We played 15 minutes. In the second half, we got out of sync offensively and then didn't get back on defense. We didn't play with the intensity to beat a team like Christopher Newport."

C. NEWPORT MW FGFTRAFPT Artis 5-170-043410Walker 1-42-22024Smith 2-20-00744Boykins 10-165-590225Harvell 2-50-12014Strothers 12-274-6132329Brown 1-20-21012King 0-10-33040Totals 33-7411-194451878 FERRUM MW FGFTRAFPTJohnson 1-10-01022Cottom 2-119-10114113Williams 1-50-03002Burrell 1-52-24124Lea 4-113-4130111Foxx 8-221-571422Robertson 4-62-230310Richardson 0-10-02020Scarborough 3-62-26038Totals 24-6819-2541161872Rebounds include team rebounds Score by periods: C. Newport35-43-78 Ferrum39-33-72

Three-point goals - CNC: Artis 0-3, Harvell 0-1, Strothers 1-4, Total 1-8. Ferrum: Cottom 0-2, Williams 0-2, Burrell 0-1, Foxx 5-13, Total 5-19.

Turnovers - CNC 20 (Strothers 4); Ferrum 17 (Cottom, Foxx 5). Blocked shots - CNC 2 (Boykins, Strothers); Ferrum 7 (Foxx 4). Steals - CNC 8 (Artis 4) Ferrum 7 (Cottom 3).

by CNB