ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 9, 1996 TAG: 9603120039
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
THIS YEAR'S ROANOKE TEAM hadn't faced a 70-23 halftime deficit before Friday's disappointing home loss in the NCAA Division III basketball tournament.
It was Roanoke's biggest home crowd of the year, and the game was over at halftime.
When was the last time a coach didn't use a starter in the second half? It happened Friday at Roanoke College in the NCAA Division III South/Midwest Sectional tournament and the Maroons weren't the ones resting.
Illinois Wesleyan bumped the Maroons out of the tournament 116-88 in front of 1,788 spectators and coach Dennie Bridges, who has won 556 games during his 31-year career, kept his starters seated the final 20 minutes.
``I talked to the players at the half. There was no doubt who had won the game,'' said Bridges.
``There was nothing to be gained by beating a team by 50 points and embarrassing an opponent. I'd have felt badly if a starter had gone in for two minutes and sprained an ankle with such an important game tomorrow.''
Wesleyan will take on Washington (St.Louis) tonight at 7:30 with a trip to the Division III Final Four in the Salem Civic Center next weekend awaiting the winner.
Roanoke had hoped to be playing tonight, but Friday's game was decided quickly when Wesleyan reeled off the first 17 points, built a 34-8 lead and rolled to a 70-23 halftime advantage.
``We've never been in that situation,'' said Roanoke coach Page Moir. ``We've been up on some teams by 25 points and we tell them to come out and play the second half like it was 0-0, do all the things that got you there. That's what we did tonight.
``At the half, I tried to figure out a speech for being down 47. I've never been down like that before.''
Bridges said the first 17 points didn't give him a feeling the game was in Wesleyan's win column.
``I was feeling good, not secure. A couple of 3's and they're back in it. It just kept going for us. We had a lot of good shots. Everything was in rhythm,'' said the Wesleyan coach.
``Never in my wildest dreams did something like this cross my mind.''
Roanoke players preferred to look at the few positives.
``It's a tough game,'' said Jon Maher. ``But we made it to the Sweet 16 and won the ODAC. We played well together and had a good time together. We're disappointed but we're not embarrassed by this.''
Steve Camara, the lone Roanoke senior, won't get a chance to atone for the final game of his career.
``It was a surprise, but this team has to move on and show what it has,'' Camara said. ``Adversity is something every team faces. I felt helpless and I don't know what to say.''
Wesleyan players were just as stunned as the Maroons.
``I looked up, saw it was 17-0 and I couldn't believe it,'' said Chris Simich, whose 20 points led Wesleyan. ``When it was 34-8, we were playing like it was still tied.''
``It was about time we had a game like this. Our team fed off the defense. Hopefully, the defense will be like this tomorrow,'' said Bryan Crabtree, who added 16 points.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 linesby CNB