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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 5, 1994                   TAG: 9401050163
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BRIAN DeVIDO STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium


ROANOKE WHIPS ELMIRA 92-76

Bryant Lee found himself in an unenviable position during Roanoke College's basketball matchup with Elmira (N.Y.) College on Tuesday night.

Lee, a 6-foot-5, 185-pound forward, was assigned to guard 6-6, 235-pound Soaring Eagles center Tony Bego in the championship game of the Domino's-Valvano Classic.

Bego scored his share of points, muscling his way through Roanoke's defense on several occasions for a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds.

Lee led the Maroons' pesky second-half defensive charge and scored 18 points, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and blocked four shots. His effort propelled the Maroons to a 92-76 victory before a crowd of 1,142 at the Bast Center.

Roanoke (10-1) won its sixth consecutive game, and Elmira (7-2) saw a six-game winning streak come to an end.

"I definitely think it was our most physical game of the season," said Lee, who was named the Most Valuable Player in the tournament.

Maybe too physical. Elmira was assessed four technical fouls in the final 10 minutes, and Soaring Eagles' guard Sean McGovern was ejected in the closing minutes.

"We lost our cool," said Kevin Moore, Elmira's coach. "And we didn't play with a lot of intelligence. It was not a pretty sight."

Roanoke took control when Maroons forward Joe Schrantz entered the game midway through the second half.

The Maroons held a 59-55 lead when Scrantz, who had scored two points in the first 28 minutes, went on a scoring binge. He poured in nine of Roanoke's next 17 points as the Maroons went on a 17-5 run to take a 76-60 lead with 4 minutes, 50 seconds to play.

Schrantz hit a 3-pointer, his first of the season, during the Roanoke scoring spree and added three short jump shots.

"Coach [Page Moir] has confidence in all 15 players," said Schrantz, who finished with a season-high 16 points in 19 minutes. "My jump shot felt real good today. I've been working hard all year on improving my range."

In the consolation game, Plymouth (N.H.) State built a 19-2 lead and went on to beat St. Mary's (Md.) 92-72.

Plymouth State guard Moses Jean-Pierre scored a tournament-high 40 points and added nine assists and eight steals as the Panthers (8-2) led throughout. St. Mary's (4-5) committed 25 turnovers.



 by CNB