THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 6, 1996 TAG: 9602060440
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Hounded for a half by a junk defense designed to stop him, Norfolk State's Carnell Penn knows what it feels like to be the fox that got away.
Penn's eight points in overtime sparked the Spartans to an 77-74 upset of previously unbeaten Virginia Union, the nation's top-ranked Division II team, in front of a regional television audience and an Echols Arena crowd of 5,644.
After scoring 13 points as the Spartans bolted to a 35-20 halftime lead, Penn found himself the focal point of a 1-3 zone with a chaser: Maurice Greene, a 6-foot-4 guard assigned to blanket Penn.
It worked as Greene bullied the 6-foot Penn around the court and limited him to two second-half points.
``But if you stay with anything too long, it stops working,'' said Virginia Union coach Dave Robbins.
When that happened, when Penn's unending movement seemed to wear down Greene, Norfolk State's senior guard scored eight of the Spartans' 10 points during a three-minute, overtime stretch and assisted on the Spartans' other basket.
Penn's overtime heroics began with a 3-pointer from the left corner that gave Norfolk State a 67-66 lead, its first lead of the overtime.
``That 3-pointer really relaxed me,'' said Penn, who finished with 23 points. ``After that, I had enough confidence that if he got up on me I'd go by him and if he stepped off I'd shoot over him.''
Penn's outburst gave the Spartans (15-3 overall, 10-2 in the CIAA) a 74-71 lead and Derrick Bryant canned three out of four free throw attempts in the final 21 seconds to keep the Panthers at bay.
That Virginia Union (18-1, 11-1) fought back from a 15-point halftime deficit is testament to the Panthers' talent.
Center Ben Wallace, who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, led the second-half charge. Luther Bates added 17 points, James Marshall had 15 and Greene added 11.
However Thomas Meredith, the Panthers' leading scorer, was limited to just four points, 10 below his average, and fouled out with 9:55 left in regulation.
``When it comes down to it, their two best players (Bryant and Penn) stepped up and ours (Meredith and Wallace) didn't as much, maybe because they were in foul trouble,'' Robbins said.
Except for a monumental mental error in the closing seconds of regulation, this game wouldn't have gone into overtime.
After a pair of Bryant free throws, the Panthers trailed 62-59 and had to go the length of the court with 10 seconds left when Norfolk State coach Mike Bernard started stressing a no-foul approach during a timeout.
But point guard Maurice Whitfield was called for a foul trying to poke the ball away from Virginia Union point guard Jay Butler from behind at midcourt with six seconds left.
Butler made the first free throw. And when he intentionally missed the second attempt, teammate Ben Wallace went high over a crowd to tip it in. Panthers forward Marquise Newbie then blocked Carlton Cooper's baseline jumper as regulation time expired.
``It was a critical error,'' Bernard said. ``At least Whitfield followed it up with a flawless overtime.''
Whitfield redeemed himself by canning a mid-range jumper and scoring on a fastbreak layup in the extra period.
And the Spartans redeemed themselves after what was a potential season-hobbling loss to Bowie State Saturday night. The Spartans, who hadn't lost to Bowie State in 41 years, fell 81-69 after throttling the same team 116-57 two weeks prior.
``After we lost to Bowie, people around campus and around town were talking about how we were through, done, the season was over,'' said Bryant, who scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. ``This gives us a tremendous boost.'' ILLUSTRATION: L. TODD DPENCER
The Spartans' Maurice Whitfield, cneter, fights for a rebound as
Union's Luther Bates, left, and Ben Wallace surround him.
by CNB