DATE: Saturday, March 8, 1997               TAG: 9703080620

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: GREENSBORO                        LENGTH:   54 lines

LATE SURGE LIFTS UNC PAST PESKY VIRGINIA TIED WITH 5:39 LEFT, TAR HEELS WIN 3-POINT WAR TO SEND CAVALIER HOME.

Virginia traded 3-point attempts for Antawn Jamison layup attempts most of Friday night against North Carolina in an ACC tournament quarterfinal game.

The percentages, and the outcome, were with the Tar Heels, who prevailed 78-68 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Relying on its 3-point shooting, sixth-seeded Virginia (18-12) rallied from 10 down to tie the game at 59 with 5:39 left. Third-seeded UNC (22-6) responded by dropping some big 3-point shots of its own. Vince Carter and Shammond Williams hit consecutive treys to give the Tar Heels a 67-59 lead with 3:36 left. A pair of Jamison free throws pushed the margin back to 10, 71-61, with two minutes left.

North Carolina coach Dean Smith said the Cavaliers were difficult to defend on the perimeter.

``It wasn't like we were letting them shoot the ball,'' he said.

Jamison finished with 24 points, 15 in the first half. The win was North Carolina's ninth straight. The Tar Heels meet Wake Forest today at 4 in a semifinal.

North Carolina twice opened up double-digit leads early in the second half, but Virginia's 3-point shooting brought them back both times. North Carolina led 42-31 with 16:55 left before consecutive treys by Curtis Staples and Courtney Alexander cut the lead to six. A Staples layup then cut it to three, 42-39.

UNC wasted no time pushing the lead back to 10, 51-41, with 11:48 left.

A Staples three cut the margin to three, 59-56, with 6:42 left.

An Alexander 3-pointer a minute later tied the game at 59.

Virginia went cold from there, and it didn't help that Jones had pulled Alexander after that 3-pointer.

With Alexander on the bench, North Carolina went on an 8-0 run.

``I think if I'm not mistaken he had four fouls and we wanted to just kind of give him a breather,'' Jones said.

Alexander only had three at the time.

Virginia made it two straight quarterfinal-round exits, the first time the Cavaliers have done that since they were bounced in the first round in 1984 and 1985.

Alexander led Virginia with 27 points on 5 of 7 from 3-point range.

Early on, North Carolina lived on the offensive rebounding and inside scoring of Jamison, who had 15 points and seven rebounds - four offensive - in the first half.

Propelled by Jamison and point guard Ed Cota, the Tar Heels ripped off a couple of runs to keep Virginia at bay. An early 7-0 run gave North Carolina a 16-13 lead with 11:42 left in the half. After Virginia went up 18-16, UNC answered with a 12-0 run that featured 12 Jamison points.

Virginia's first three field goals were 3-pointers, and the Cavaliers attempted 14 treys in the half, connecting on five - just enough to stay close at halftime.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu