ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 23, 1996 TAG: 9601230077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTS
Former Lord Botetourt High School standout Bobby Prince scored a season-high 20 points, 17 in the second half, as VMI snapped a two-game losing streak with a 96-86 victory over East Tennessee State on Monday night in Johnson City, Tenn.
The Keydets took a 14-4 lead and were up by as many as 13 points before the Buccaneers closed to 40-29 at halftime of the Southern Conference game. Prince came alive in the second half, hitting three of four shots from the field and 11 of 12 free-throw attempts as VMI pushed its lead to as many as 22 points. Prince also had nine assists.
Brent Conley finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for VMI (7-5 overall, 1-1 conference). Jason Bell had 16 points, Lawrence Gullette added 11 and former Martinsville star Maurice Spencer scored 10 points. The Keydets went 26-for-30 from the free-throw line and outrebounded ETSU 47-35.
Kyle Keeton led the Bucs (5-9, 1-2) with 19 points.
In other games:
Charleston Southern 80, Radford 75: T.L. Latson scored 22 points and Chad Kartchner added a career-high 14 as the Buccaneers downed the Highlanders in a Big South Conference game in Charleston, S.C.
Brett Larrick had 12 points for Charleston Southern (9-8, 4-1) and Winston Gordon came off the bench to contribute 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Radford (9-8, 3-2) had a balanced attack, led by Jason Lansdown with 20 points, Kevin Robinson with a career-high 19 and Anthony Walker with 18.
The Bucs were ahead by as many as 10 points in the second half, but had to withstand hot shooting by the Highlanders down the stretch as Radford hit 54.5 percent from the field after intermission. The Bucs connected on five of six late free throws to seal the victory.
Liberty 67, Coastal Carolina 62: Peter Aluma dominated inside with 20 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks as the Flames held off the Chanticleers in a Big South game in North Conway, S.C.
Liberty (8-6, 2-2) hit only 40 percent of its field-goal attempts to 45 percent for Coastal Carolina, but hit 17 of 20 free throws to win. Mark Reed added 13 points and Larry Jackson had 10 for the Flames.
Lee Grant scored 16 points for the Chanticleers (4-11, 0-5).
American 84, James Madison 71: Sophomore guard Nathan Smith scored a career-high 25 points, and the Eagles broke open the Colonial Athletic Association game with an early second-half run on the way to a victory over the Dukes in Washington.
After JMU (5-12, 1-5) took a 5-0 lead in the opening 1:04, American (8-6, 4-1) reeled off 15 points to trigger a 21-2 run that opened a 14-point lead with 13:33 remaining in the first half.
Darryl Franklin added 20 points and five assists for the Eagles. Darren McLinton led the way for JMU with 25 points.
St.Joseph's 68, Fordham 64: Mark Bass scored 19 points, including 10 in a 16-2 run that rallied the Hawks from a 14-point deficit, as St.Joseph's (7-5, 2-1) edged the Rams (2-12, 0-6) in an Atlantic 10 Conference game in the Bronx.
The Hawks won their third consecutive game despite hitting only one field goal in the final 4:40 of the game. They made 12 of 16 free throws and had a short jumper by Reggie Townsend in that span as they held off Fordham.
Billy Lovett led the Rams with a career-high 18 points and Ray Carroll had 14.
Women
Radford 79, Charleston Southern 70: In Radford, Lisa Howard scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Highlanders beat the Buccaneers in the Big South.
Kim Cruise (Pulaski County) added 14 points for Radford (7-8, 3-1). Tracey DeLong led Charleston Southern (6-10, 1-3) with 20 points.
Greensboro 68, Ferrum 59: Michelle Bainbridge scored 24 points to lead the Pride past the Panthers in a Dixie Conference game in Greensboro, N.C.
Aimee Barker (Bassett) paced the Panthers (9-7, 3-2) with 24 points. The Pride is 6-6, 2-2.
Notes
HOKIES UP TO NO. 8: Massachusetts, the only unbeaten NCAA Division I team, remained No. 1 in the Associated Press men's poll, and fellow Atlantic 10 Conference member Virginia Tech improved on its best ever ranking by moving up to eighth.
A week ago, Massachusetts (16-0) was picked first on all but two of the ballots from a nationwide media panel. This week, with two more voters participating, the Minutemen received 57 of 66 first-place votes and 1,641 points, 52 more than Kentucky (15-1), which was No.1 on eight ballots.
Tech (11-1) was 11th in the previous week's AP poll.
``It's great to be there,'' coach Bill Foster said of the No. 8 spot. ``But it would be even nicer to be there the last week of the season.''
The 1966-67 Hokies had held the distinction of being the highest-ranked basketball squad in school history. The '66-67 team was 10th in the United Press International poll after opening the season with victories over No.4 Duke and highly regarded Purdue.
The No. 8 spot also marks the highest ranking of any Bill Foster-coached team. Foster's 1976-77 Clemson squad was 10th at one point.
Besides Massachusetts and Kentucky, only No. 7 Villanova and No. 14 Penn State held their spots from the previous poll after a week in which 13 ranked teams lost a total of 14 games.
Kansas and Connecticut, which received the other first-place vote, each moved up one spot to third and fourth, respectively, while Cincinnati, which lost its first game of the season Sunday night to Alabama-Birmingham, dropped two spots to fifth. Georgetown moved up two spots to sixth, and was followed in the Top Ten by Villanova, Tech, Wake Forest and Utah. (Complete poll in Scoreboard. B4)
WOMEN'S POLL: Georgia is right back where it started.
The Lady Bulldogs, on a tear after a slow start, moved into the No.2 spot in the AP poll. That's the same position they held early in the season before two losses in their first four games sent them tumbling to 12th.
Georgia has won 12 in a row since and even stole a first-place vote from No.1 Louisiana Tech, which led the poll for the 10th consecutive week. It was the first time in six weeks that Tech wasn't a unanimous No.1. Louisiana Tech received 38 of 39 first-place votes from a national media panel after running its record to 16-0 with three lopsided victories in five days. The Lady Techsters had 974 points to 929 for Georgia (14-2), which won at No.3 Connecticut and No.10 Penn State.
UConn (16-3) remained third, Tennessee (15-3) climbed two places to fourth and Vanderbilt (14-1) dropped three spots to fifth after its first loss, 85-82 at Tennessee. Stanford, Virginia, Iowa, Texas Tech and Penn State completed the Top 10. (Complete poll in Scoreboard. B4)
CAMBY PRACTICES: Marcus Camby, eight days after collapsing, practiced with Massachusetts on Monday and will decide just before tip-off whether he is ready to play tonight at Pittsburgh.
``He can play,'' said John Calipari, the Minutemen's coach. ``It's just a matter of whether he wants to play and feels comfortable playing.''
Camby missed three games after inexplicably fainting before a Jan.14 game at St. Bonaventure. Doctors still do not know what caused the episode, although many possibilities have been ruled out.
UTEP COACH TO HAVE BYPASS: Texas-El Paso coach Don Haskins, who has been hospitalized since suffering a mild heart attack during a game Saturday night, is to have double bypass surgery today and may miss the rest of the season. The operation, to open two blocked arteries, is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. at Providence Memorial Hospital.
``The anticipation is that he will recover from this very nicely,'' said athletic director John Thompson, adding the 65-year-old coach looked good Monday.
Haskins is in his 35th season at UTEP and has a 675-304 record. He won an NCAA title in 1966 when UTEP was known as Texas Western.
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