THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 4, 1996 TAG: 9603040165
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
It will forever be remembered as the team that couldn't go.
Timing is everything and in this case the timing was bad, though the reasoning was good.
Norfolk State wants to be as big-time as possible, and to do that it must move up to Division I. The Spartans have outgrown the CIAA in almost all aspects. The MEAC, and natural rival Hampton University, awaits.
The Division II playoffs, however, do not, even though the Spartans beat mighty Virginia Union twice, the second time in Saturday night's CIAA Tournament championship game.
By applying for Division I status prior to this season, the Spartans said goodbye forever to their dreams of a Division II national title.
``Twenty years from now, maybe we'll look back and talk about what this team might have been able to do had it gone to the tournament,'' Norfolk State coach Mike Bernard said. ``But we don't have an empty feeling about this. We feel fulfilled.
``We settled on the fact that this tournament was going to be the ultimate for us. We had to make this tantamount to a national championship.''
It had a national championship feel to it, but that usually happens when Virginia Union and Norfolk State - who split during the regular season - square off in front of a packed house.
Union started the season No. 1 in the country and would have stayed there were it not for a 77-74 overtime loss to the Spartans a month ago in Norfolk.
Could anyone, however, have anticipated such high drama Saturday night at Lawrence Joel Coliseum?
First, junior forward Rodney Carmichael hit two free throws with less than a second left in regulation to force overtime. Then, senior forward Derrick Bryant canned an 18-foot jumper with 77 seconds left in overtime with the shot clock running down and Ben Wallace, the CIAA's most feared shot blocker, closing in.
Bryant's shot was a rainbow that barely escaped Wallace's outstretched fingers, then found the bottom of the net for a 69-68 lead on the way to a 72-70 Norfolk State victory.
``I added a little extra air under it,'' said Bryant, only the sixth Spartan to finish his career with over 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. ``Had to. There wasn't enough time on the shot clock to go by him.''
As for Carmichael's free throws that tied the game at the end of regulation - Carmichael was fouled by Luther Bates in a battle for the a rebound after Bryant missed a desperation 3-point try - Bryant had the utmost confidence in his teammate.
``People forget that Rodney is a tremendous free-throw shooter,'' Bryant said.
Carmichael might have been making his first appearance of the night at the line, but he brought with him a 73.8 percent accuracy rating.
``I can't imagine ever having to make two bigger free throws,'' Carmichael said.
Carmichael knows that a repeat performance in next year's CIAA tournament, the last the Spartans will ever play, is unlikely given the fact that the team will lose six seniors, including three starters who combined for nearly 50 points a game - Bryant, guard Carnell Penn and center Blitz Wooten.
And Bernard realizes that even a quality recruiting year can't immediately make up for their departures.
``This is the toughest team mentally I've coached at Norfolk State,'' Bernard said. ``They exhibited more character than you could imagine. It might take two or three years to get back to this point.''
That toughness was characterized best by Bryant's refusal to sit on the bench at the end, even though he sustained a nasty shoulder sprain running into Wallace while chasing a loose ball in the closing minutes of regulation.
``I was on the bench watching the minutes run off the clock when I suddenly realized it was my last game,'' Bryant said. ``And I didn't intend to watch it from the bench.''
So the Spartans are left to cherish a 23-4 season and root for the Panthers when they begin their run in the Division II playoffs.
``It's killing me knowing we're playing so good and knowing we can't go to the national tournament,'' Bryant said. ``Hopefully, (Union) will bring home a national title. I could get some joy out of that.''
And joy knowing the Spartans beat 'em, two-out-of-three. ILLUSTRATION: CIAA CHAMPS!
[Color photo on page C1]
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK
The Virginian-Pilot
Photographs by CHRISTOPHER REDDICK
The Virginian-Pilot
by CNB