ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 20, 1996 TAG: 9602200079
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
Tim Braun grew up in Dayton, two miles from the Bridgewater campus. The Bridgewater gymnasium was where he learned to play basketball and where he continued to play when he entered Turner Ashby High School.
``All through my junior and senior year, I played every day over there,'' he said.
Consider those privileges revoked.
Braun, now a junior center for Roanoke College, scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds - along with tournament MVP honors - as the Maroons beat Bridgewater 74-72 for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship at the Salem Civic Center.
``It's a great feeling,'' said Roanoke point guard Nathan Hungate. ``Tim has the best post moves. We were just feeding him inside.''
The Maroons (22-4 with a 10-game win streak) won the ODAC title for the sixth time in their 15 years in the league. Like their previous winners, this Roanoke team won the regular-season title and entered the tournament as the top seed. Roanoke already had an NCAA Tournament berth locked up, so the Eagles might have had more on the line. But Roanoke tried not to look at it that way.
``We wanted to prove it again,'' said shooting guard Jason Bishop. ``Winning the ODAC regular season is really nothing great.''
Roanoke coach Page Moir, however, said the regular-season championship may have been the key to the Maroons' tournament title. Roanoke, which overcame eight-point second-half deficits in its first two tournament games, did the same Monday.
Bridgewater shot 60 percent in the first half (67 percent from 3-point range) to build a 15-point lead. The Maroons didn't get a lead until 2:48 was left to play.
``I'm tired of trailing the whole game,'' Hungate said. ``It's scary, really scary.''
But a double-spin move by Braun and four Bishop free throws alleviated those fears. Sure enough, with 16 seconds to go, Hungate was back to his old self, talking to Eagles guard Scott Powers. ``I asked him could I borrow his scissors so I could cut down the net,'' Hungate said.
``The things that got us the top seed taught our guys ways to win,'' Moir said. ``More so than our other recent teams, this team finds a way to win.''
The same could be said of the Eagles. Picked in the preseason to finish seventh in the league, Bridgewater held first place longer than any other ODAC team. At 18-9 and an ODAC finalist, an NCAA bid is all but assured.
``We're glad to be there,'' said Eagles freshman Eddie Bentley, a former Christiansburg High School standout who listed Maroons forward Jon Maher (Blacksburg) among his prep archrivals. ``I don't think anybody expected us. It was a total team effort.''
It might have been better with Braun on their side. He spent his whole life on the Bridgewater campus, but said when it came time for college, he had to get away. ``I would love to have had him,'' said Eagles coach Bill Leatherman, ``but I think kids should go away.''
Even though he was on the other team, Braun made a play Leatherman had to love when he skied for a follow dunk of a Bishop miss with 6:33 to go. It pulled Roanoke to 63-62. ``The momentum play of the game,'' Moir said.
Braun was joined on the all-tournament team by Bishop, Bridgewater's Craig Tutt and Craig Sowers and Hampden-Sydney's Nate Schwab.
The crowd of 2,152 (among the top five in the event's history) watched the Maroons walk off with the nets, but some ODAC coaches said they think this outfit could make it back here for the Division III Final Four on March 15-16.
Ranked second in the South Region and 16th in the nation, the Maroons could move to first in the region when the final poll is released Tuesday. That's because Millsaps (Miss.), the No.1 team, fell to No.5 Hendrix (Ark.) 84-68 on Sunday. The NCAA pairings will be announced at 8 p.m. Feb.25. Tournament play begins Feb.29.
``That's fine,'' Bishop said, ``but we're going to celebrate tonight.''
see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff Roanoke's Tim Braun (left) andby CNBBridgewater's Jonathan Orrock fight for a loose ball during the
first half of their ODAC championship game Monday night at the
Salem Civic Center. color