DATE: Wednesday, November 26, 1997          TAG: 9711260561

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   57 lines

SLIGHT'S TIP-IN AT THE BUZZER WINS IT FOR VIRGINIA WESLEYAN

For Virginia Wesleyan coach Terry Butterfield, it was ``what Division III basketball is all about.''

Actually, it was what basketball at any level is all about.

Packed house. Close rivals. The lead ping-ponging back and forth all night.

And, naturally, a last-second, game-winning shot.

It came courtesy of Percy Slight, whose tip-in at the buzzer lifted Virginia Wesleyan to a 75-74 victory over Christopher Newport Tuesday night in front of 400 raucous fans at Cunningham Gym.

Slight's tip not only gave the Marlins a win over their closest rival, it gave him sweet redemption. With 17.5 seconds left, he missed two free throws that could have given Wesleyan the lead.

``From the valley,'' Slight said. ``To the peak.''

Slight's tip came at the end of a wild sequence that Butterfield remembered as ``a blur.''

It started when Christopher Newport's Matt Bryant missed a free throw with 10.6 seconds left. Wesleyan's Jason Nickerson rebounded and the Marlins hurried the ball upcourt.

``We had a set play, but we kind of got caught up in the emotion of the game and forgot the set play,'' Slight said.

Troy Walton missed a baseline jump shot with about six seconds left.

Nickerson missed a short follow, then Ron Yuhasz shot an airball, which the 6-foot-5 Slight tapped in from about a foot away.

``I felt so good that he was the one that won the ball game for us,'' Butterfield said.

The win was Wesleyan's third straight to start the season. Christopher Newport (0-1), which has been ranked in most pre-season Top 20s, was playing its season opener.

``The game was ours to win, we just didn't finish,'' coach C.J. Woollum said. ``They had four shots in the final seven seconds. All we have to do is get a rebound and we go home.''

The Captains led by seven early and by five in the second half, but could never shake the Marlins.

The 6-3 Nickerson scored 11 of Wesleyan's final 13 first-half points - most on power moves down low - to knot the score at 40 at halftime.

Christopher Newport seemed in command when it led 74-70 with 2:17 left. But Wesleyan point guard Tim Petrillo forced consecutive turnovers on the Captains' Mike Holland, and Welseyan cut the lead to 74-73 on a Nickerson layup with 41 seconds left.

That was all the scoring until Slight's tip.

``Tonight was the most definitive example of what a fine line there is between winning and losing,'' Woollum said. ``Fate was with them tonight.''

Nickerson led Wesleyan with 22 points, while Petrillo added 16. Bryant led the Captains with 22 points. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

L. TODD SPENCER

Jason Nickerson of Virginia Wesleyan, center, keeps the ball away

from Christopher Newport's Kenny Carter, left, and Steve Butler.

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