ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 6, 1997 TAG: 9703060062
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN THE ROANOKE TIMES
Roanoke, which has lost seven of 11 games, faces Methodist, which has won 17 in a row.
``Villanova '85 ... Villanova '85 .. Villanova '85.''
Roanoke College men's basketball coach Page Moir has given his team a mantra to follow this week. They are supposed to whisper it to themselves until it is branded into their brains.
In 1985, the Wildcats men's basketball team was hammered in the Big East tournament only to pick itself back up and win one of the most improbable national championships of all time.
Last week, Roanoke fell in the semifinals of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament. It has lost seven of its past 11 games after winning its first 15 of the season. But beginning at 7 tonight, the Maroons have the chance to play six more games.
``These guys remember Villanova,'' Moir said. ``I think that's been pressed upon them. The tournament is a whole new beginning.''
Roanoke (19-7) visits Methodist College in Fayetteville, N.C., in the first round of the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament. Methodist (19-7) is the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion and is riding a 17-game win streak, longest in Division III.
Moir said the Monarchs remind him of Goucher, a team the Maroons beat 85-81 in overtime of this season's Domino's Lewis-Gale Classic. Senior forward Jason Childers, the Dixie player of the year, leads the Monarchs with a 20.5 points per game average and two other players average more than 13 points per game.
``We're not going to stop them, we're just going to try to slow them up,'' Moir said.
The Maroons rolled out of town Wednesday. They practiced at Methodist on Wednesday night and then turned in for the night.
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