THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 13, 1997 TAG: 9702130598
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 51 lines
Norfolk State's status as CIAA defending champion will be tested in the final two weeks of the regular season.
Three of the Spartans' four remaining games are against a pair of divisional leaders, Elizabeth City State and North Carolina Central, and the Southern Division's second-place team, St. Augustine's. All four games, including Tuesday's contest against Johnson C. Smith, are on the road.
Tonight Norfolk State (15-6, 10-3 CIAA) plays at St. Augustine's (15-7, 10-4). The Falcons had a two-game winning streak snapped by N.C. Central 86-72 Tuesday night.
``If we want to be the Northern Division champs, we have to win all four games,'' NSU coach Mike Bernard said.
The importance of winning the Northern Division is earning a first-round bye in the CIAA tournament in Winston-Salem at month's end. Each divisional champ, along with the team with the next best record, receives a first-round bye.
NSU has the second-best winning percentage (.769) in the conference and is 1 1/2 games behind ECSU, which hosts the Spartans at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
NO SYMPATHY: ECSU, as well, has no easy prey in its season-ending drive to halt the Northern Division dominance of NSU and Virginia Union.
In a five-game stretch that began last Saturday, the Vikings (16-4, 12-2) play the teams with the best records in the conference - N.C. Central, Virginia Union, NSU, St. Paul's and St. Augustine's. ECSU and St. Paul's are ranked No. 3 and 4, respectively, in the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Region.
``This is as good as schedule as anyone's,'' said ECSU coach Barry Hamler, a former coach at Booker T. Washington High. ``We do not have to depend on anyone to win the CIAA. It's solely up to us.''
The Vikings began the stretch by defeating N.C. Central 79-74 on Saturday and then Virginia Union, the only Northern foe to beat ECSU this season, 64-60 on Tuesday.
ECSU, winner of five straight, hasn't won a CIAA title since 1981.
VIKINGS HONORS: ECSU earned double honors this week when Maurice Mincey and Marcus Riddick were named player and rookie of the week, respectively.
Mincey, a 6-foot-7 junior forward, had 76 points, 33 rebounds and seven assists in ECSU's three victories last week.
``Maurice Mincey is the best basketball player in the CIAA,'' Hamler declared. ``He's in a class of his own.''
Riddick had 38 points and 22 rebounds last week. The 6-foot-10 freshman forward from Bayside had 22 points and 10 rebounds against Virginia State last Monday.