Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 24, 1994 TAG: 9402240228
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
There is one major drawback to being a tournament's No. 1 seed: Everyone is gunning for you.
The Roanoke College men's basketball team found that out Wednesday.
The top-seeded Maroons trailed by 12 points in the first half against No. 8 Lynchburg and had to rally for an 82-79 first-round victory in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament at the Salem Civic Center.
Senior Hilliary Scott led the Roanoke charge with 27 points, including seven in a key run that put the Maroons (24-1) back in the game five minutes into the second half.
"That's the biggest thing about the tournament," Scott said. "Teams want to come out and beat us. Everyone wants to knock off the No. 1 seed."
The victory was Roanoke's 20th straight, breaking the school record of 19 in a row held by the Maroons' 1972 national championship team.
In the first half, Lynchburg (10-15) used a 20-2 run to take a 29-17 lead with seven minutes, 38 seconds remaining. Scott and junior forward Bryant Lee pulled the Maroons to six points down, but Lynchburg's Anthony Cummings scored five points and Mike Preston made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Hornets a 41-32 halftime lead.
"We were definitely letting them get too many easy shots in the first half," said Page Moir, Roanoke's coach. "They were the aggressors. We also let them really take us out of our offense."
The Maroons regrouped at halftime and came out with defensive intensity and offensive confidence. Roanoke outscored the Hornets 14-4 in the opening minutes and went ahead 46-45 on a three-point play by Scott.
The lead changed hands five times the rest of the half with neither team leading by more than five points. The Maroons went up to stay with 2:08 remaining when Scott made a short jumper to make it 75-74.
Freshman Jason Bishop scored on a running jumper, and senior point guard Dustin Fonder made three free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal Roanoke's record-setting win.
The Maroons made 28 of 35 free-throw attempts (80 percent) and shot 53 percent on field-goal attempts.
"They got too many foul shots," said Joe A. Davis, Lynchburg's coach. "As physical a game as that was, free throws ended up really being the key."
Cummings, a former Cave Spring High School standout, led the Hornets with 20 points and nine rebounds. Freshman Tremayne McHeimer of Franklin County also added 20 points, 12 in the second half.
Lee scored 17 points and a team-high 11 rebounds for Roanoke.
The Maroons next play Friday at noon against the winner of today's game between No. 4 Bridgewater and No. 5 Virginia Wesleyan.
by CNB