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

DATE: MONDAY, March 2, 1992                   TAG: 9203020138
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOHN SMALLWOOD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

EMORY & HENRY, FERRUM MEET THURSDAY IN NCAA

After his team defeated Christopher Newport College 99-96 on Saturday to win the Dixie Conference Tournament and receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament, Ferrum basketball coach Bill Pullen had a hunch.

Pullen said he felt the particulars of his school's first NCAA invitation would hinge on the outcome of the championship game of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament.

That's why Pullen and his Panthers squad didn't sleep in after a late-night return from Greensboro, N.C. Instead, they went to the Salem Civic Center to watch Hampden-Sydney beat Emory & Henry 97-70.

"We figure we'll probably play the loser of this game," said Pullen, "and we might get to host."

He was right on both counts.

Ferrum, 20-7 and seeded third in the South Region, will play host to fourth-seeded Emory & Henry (20-8) in an opening-round game on Thursday. The winner will travel to top-seeded Maryville (Tenn.) College, which is 23-3 and ranked sixth nationally, for a game Saturday.

Hampden-Sydney (23-5) will play host to Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference champion Centre College (19-7) of Danville, Ky., in a first-round game on Thursday.

"This was one of our goals," said Pullen. "I never thought we'd be 20-7 with our schedule, but we played tough people because we wanted to be better at tournament time."

The Panthers will be playing Emory & Henry for the third time this season. Ferrum won both meetings, including 98-82 at Swartz Gymnasium on Dec. 4.

Ferrum secured a bid when senior guard Everett Foxx scored 24 of his 33 points in the second half to help rally the Panthers from a 16-point deficit to victory Saturday night. Mike Robertson added 23 points and Jerry Scarborough 15 as Ferrum won its first Dixie title.

Bridgewater, which finished 21-6 but lost to Emory & Henry in the ODAC tournament semifinals, did not receive an NCAA bid.

Eighteen of the 40 bids go to conference champions, and each of the eight regions is assured of no less than four bids and no more than six.

The Midwest Region got six bids, the Northeast four and the other six regions five each.

by CNB