ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9603040122
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
Roanoke College loaded all of its weapons and shot itself into the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament Saturday night.
Even with two of its biggest guns on the bench with the weight of eight fouls on their combined necks, the Maroons went into their ammunition pile and pulled out an 80-64 victory over Hendrix (Ark.) College before 1,348 at the Bast Center.
``We can put somebody at any position that can score 20 points on any night,'' said Roanoke coach Page Moir.
Only one Maroon scored 20 or more against the Warriors; a player known in high school as ``the Pistol''. Junior guard Jason Bishop came in as Roanoke's point guard as starter Nathan Hungate committed three fouls in the first half and four in the first 30 minutes. Bishop, who had a career-high 32 points in the Maroons' first-round game, had 27 Saturday night, evoking images last seen in his prep days.
``It was probably his best point guard play all year,'' Moir said of the former 35-point-per-game scorer from Rye Cove High School. ``I'm glad Jason chose to trade stats to be on a team where he can win games like this.''
Roanoke hasn't played a game in the Sweet Sixteen since 1984, when an incidental foul at midcourt with no time left gave Upsala (N.J.) two free throws and a 63-62 victory. Due to their status as the No.1 seed in the region, the Maroons are likely to host the 1996 South sectional this Friday (6 and 8 p.m.) and Saturday (7:30 p.m.). A definitive announcement will come today at 1.
No matter the site, though, the Maroons (24-4) will face Illinois Wesleyan (25-2) in the second game. Dixie Conference champ Christopher Newport and Washington (Mo.) are the other two sectional entries.
``It's nice to be here,'' said forward Jon Maher.
For the second game in a row, Maher credited the familiar Bast Center surroundings for the Maroons' shooting success. After shooting 51.4 percent in the opening NCAA game against Shenandoah, Roanoke hit for 54.4 percent against Hendrix (21-6).
``If they keep shooting like that,'' said Warriors coach Cliff Garrison, ``they'll be hard to beat.''
It's tough to beat the contributions the Maroons got from their bench, too. Senior Steve Camara twice scored six points in a row while subbing for foul-laden Tim Braun and finished with 14 points. He was instrumental in limiting the Warriors' Jason Rhodes, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's player of the year, to 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting. ``We didn't miss a beat with Steve in there,'' Moir said.
And then there was Derek Bryant. If Bishop's a pistol, then Bryant, a former Franklin County High School standout, is a sawed-off shotgun. His 3-point attempts come quickly and they blow away opponents' victory hopes.
Early in the second half against the Warriors, a few Hendrix fans were looking his way and yelling ``Benchwarmer!'' Bryant held up three fingers, his basketball signature.
When Moir put him in midway through the second half, Bryant's first act was to drill a 3-pointer from the wing. He followed it up with another only 39 seconds later, giving the Maroons their biggest lead to that point, 61-44. He finished with 14 points.
Chris Nail led the Warriors with 15 points. Matt Hill, a former Northside point guard who is a junior at Hendrix, had six points, four assists, and a few chuckles with Hungate, his former teammate.
After watching Hendrix grab 10 offensive rebounds in the first half, Maher went crazy in the second half and grabbed a game-high 16. Camara was next with six.
``From the beginning of the season, our goal was to get to the Final Four,'' Maher said. ``We're a very deep team. We can pull people off the bench and not lose a thing.''
HENDRIX (21-6)
Hill 2-5 2-2 6, Green 0-2 0-0 0, Holt 1-4 0-0 2, Tumlison 2-6 0-0 6, Nail 6-11 0-0 15, McClure 0-0 0-0 0, Lentz 2-5 0-1 5, Vines 1-4 0-1 2, Wood 1-4 0-0 2, Rhodes 4-13 6-6 14, Whitaker 0-1 0-0 0, Eddy 5-9 1-2 12. Totals 24-64 9-12 64.
ROANOKE (24-4)
Hungate 1-4 0-0 3, Bullock 1-2 0-0 2, Bishop 10-13 5-8 27, Fitch 0-1 0-0 0, Sigafoes 2-6 0-0 5, Bryant 5-6 0-0 14, Ball 1-2 0-0 2, Maher 2-8 4-9 8, Camara 7-12 0-2 14, Braun 2-3 1-2 5. Totals 31-57 10-22 80.
Halftime score-Roanoke 39, Hendrix 32. Three-point goals-Hendrix 7-29 (Hill 0-2, Green 0-1, Holt 0-1, Tumlison 2-5, Nail 3-8, Lentz 1-2, Wood 0-2, Rhodes 0-6, Eddy 1-2), Roanoke 8-18 (Hungate 1-4, Bishop 2-4, Sigafoes 1-4, Bryant 4-5, Maher 0-1). Rebounds-Hendrix 37 (Eddy 9), Roanoke 39 (Maher 16). Assists-Hendrix 14 (Hill, Green 4), Roanoke 11 (Hungate 4). Total fouls-Hendrix 22, Roanoke 17. Fouled out-Tumlison, Hungate. Technical foul-Camara. A-1,348.
LENGTH: Medium: 89 linesby CNB