Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (20) View all

Western Carolinian Volume 49 Number 23, February 28, 1985

  • wcu_publications-11717.jpg
6 / 8
Item
  • Western Carolinian/February 28, 1985 Mocs Favored to Recapture Tourney by Mark Haskett Sports Editor The 1985 Southern Conference Tournament is here. It is the time at which teams hope to be playing their best ball of the season. All coaches hope for that season peak as this weekend rolls around. The action on the hard courts begins tomorrow afternoon. The tournament favorite will be UT- Chattanooga, the regular season conference champion. UT- Chattanooga has won the tournament 3 of the last 4 years. The Marshall Thundering Herd dethroned the Moccasins last season by defecting them in the championship game. UT-Chattanooga will be matched against Furman in the first game of the tournament at 12:00 noon. UTC is led by junior guard Gerald Wilkins. UT-Chattanooga will have to be in top form to overcome some stiff competition. Marshall and The Citadel should both prove to be tough competition. The Citadel Bulldogs have the makings of the darkhorse team. The main reason for the success of the Bulldogs can be attributed to Regan Truesdale, the 1984-1985 Southern Conference Player of the Year. Marshall has won 10 of their last 13 games to finish very strong in the conference, and overcame early season problems. Sam lrvin and Don Turny both quit the squad after dissatisfaction with playing time. The play of freshman guard Skip Henderson has been a big boost to the Herd. Marshall will face Davidson in Tournament First Round Games UT-Chattanooga (#1) vs. Furman (#8) noon Western Carolina (#4) vs. VMI (#5) 2:30 Marshall (#2) vs. Davidson (#7) 7:00 Citadel (#3) vs. Appalachian (#6) 9:30 ♦he, (9:30 pm). game The surprise team of the 84- 85 season has to be the VMI Keydets. Gay Elmore, Cedric Wins, and Darren Sawyer all averaged in double figures during the regular season and should make their presence known in the tournament. The only problem is that the Keydets will be matched against our own Western Carolina f",»««. f by Billy Graham Sports Reporter Last year's Southern Conference tournament, held for the first time in Asheville, NC, was termed an 'artistic and financial success' for the league. 23,664 spectators watched the tournament's four sessions at an average of 5,911 per session. The semi-final round double- header drew an overflow 7,129, while the championship game was witnessed by a capacity 6,864 fans, and a national TV audience. In first round action, Western's third-seeded Catamounts, sporting a 15-12 record, faced the sixth-seeded, 11-16 Furman Paladins. The teams battled to a 25-25 halftime tie, but the Paladins, led by senior forward-center George Singleton's 19 points, opened a late second half lead and won 71-67. Quinton Lytle led the Cats with 23 points. Appalachian State topped The Citadel in the second of four first round match'-ups. Forward David Lawrence (28 pts.) and guard Glenn Clyburn (24 pts.) led the 12-15 Mountaineers to an 82- 77 win. The 14-13 Bulldogs were led by Al Sheppard, John Sterling and Jimmy Thorpe who scored 16, 14 and 14 points respectively. Despite the 21-point performance of Kenny Wilson, Davidson's fifth all-time leading scorer, The Wildcats fell by ten to the conference regular-season champs from Marshall University. 6-8 center Don Turney scored 16 of the Thundering Herd's 78 points during the contest. UT-Chattanooga, whose three-year string of league championships was broken last year, routed East Tennessee State 82-50 in first round play. Four Mocs, led by Lamar Oden, who scored 15, broke into double figures. The Bucs were led by James Tandy's 9 points, seven below his team leading season average. ASU's Mountaineers faced Marshall in one semi-final game, and Furman played UTC in the other. Catamounts. WCU has had their ups and downs all season. Coach Steve Cottrell keeps telling the team that something good is going to happen, and you can't help but believe him. The Cats finished the season by winning 3 of their last four conference games. Tipoff time of the WCU-VM1 game is 2:30 pm. Appalachian State is another team who has had real good games and real bad games. ASU beat both UT-Chattanooga and The Citadel during the regular season and could knock off anyone in the upcoming tournament. The Mountaineers will be matched up against The Citadel in the first round. Davidson began the season with a bang. Davidson was sitting in the second spot in the conference standings during the first part of the season. Davidson is led by freshman Derek Rucker who was named to the All- Southern Conference second team. Furman gets the difficult task of playing UT-Chattanooga in the first round. Furman played UTC fairly close games during the regular season. Furman has proven themselves in recent tournaments by knocking off Marshall two years ago and Western Carolina in last year's tournament. As in every tournament, there are the favorites. This year UT Chattanooga, Marshall, and the Citadel are the so- called favorites to win the tournament, but that surely does not mean that they will. The conference games have been unpredictable with a number of upsets occurring. The tournament, which is being held in Asheville for the second straight year is expected to be a sell out. A schedule of first round games follows: UT— Chattanooga vs. Furman (noon), WCU vs. VMI (2:30 pm), Marshall vs. Davidson (7:00 pm), The Citadel vs. Appalachian State(9:30 pm). AH Conference tv.»»»v.» by Mark Haskett Sports Editor This years tournament will feature some very exciting conference talent with none better than the Citadel's Regen Truesdale. Truesdale, the 1984-85 Southern Conference player of the year, led the conference in both scoring and rebounding and proved to be unstoppable throughout the season. Truesdale led the conference in scoring and rebounding. He averaged 21.4 pts. per game and pulled 8.6 rebounds per game. He also ranks third in field goal percentage and tenth in free throw percentage. Other All-Southern Conference performers include Gerald Wilkins, Gay Elmore, Skip Henderson, and Quinton Lytle. TTITTT.XX^a.l.V UT—Chattanooga has been led by senior guard Gerald Wilkins. Wilkins averaged 19.8 pts. a game. Wilkins moves up from the 1983-84 All-Southern Conference second team. VMI's Gay Elmore is the only sophmore to make the all- conference squad. Elmore, the 1983-84 freshman of the year, was the big spark in VMI's surprising season. Elmore averaged 18.9 prs. per game and hit 48.2 percent from the floor. Western Carolina's Quinton Lytle makes the team for the first time in his career. Lytle, a senior guard, made the 1983-84 second conference team. Lytle finished the season at a 17.5 pt per game clip. This year's conference freshman class has made quite an impact on the league. Marshall's superb freshman guard, Skip Henderson, not only has been named 1984-85 freshman of the year but was also named to the all conference team. The last freshman to accomplish that feat was Jonathan Moore of Furman in 1977. Henderson has averaged 27 points over the past 10 games and finished the season at a 17.6 pts per game clip. Henderson led the conference in field goal percentage with a .548 mark. Leading the second team is Appalachian State senior Glenn Clyburn. Clyburn finished the season as the third top scorer in the league with a 17.1 average. Other players making the second team are freshman Derek Rucker of Davidson, senior Clifford Morgan of Tennessee- Chattanooga, senior Noel Gilliard of Furman, and senior Cedric Wins of VMI. ■.tt»^tt^Tt^t».^<mT^tt^-.m'.»-t^ttttf-Tt».Ttf-^--f.»^tf-imH.a.ttf.mt.tWi 1984-85 Southern Conference Player of the Year, Regan Truesdale, will lead his Citadel Bulldogs as they tangle with Appalachian State in the first round of tournament on Friday evening. Photo by Mark Haskett Summary Of 1984 Appalachian fell behind by 20 points during the first half of their contest against the Herd, and lost by 30, 97-67. Marshall's La Verne Evans led all scorers with 18 points, while the Apps were paced by Glenn Clyburn's 16. Furman fared slightly better in facing UTC. The Paladins' trailed by eleven at halftime and lost by 13, 70-57. Willie White led all scorers with 18 points, while George Singleton scored twelve for Furman. The entire affair was brought to an end in style by Marshall and UTC who battled through two overtimes before the Thundering Herd prevailed 111-107. Marshall led 48-33 at halftime but a fierce Moc rally, led by Willie White, brought the game to a tie. Each team scored five points in the first overtime period, but Marshall, led by La Verne Evans' 38 points and David Wade's 26, outscored UTC 19-15 in the second. By capturing the conference tournament Marshall earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney, where they fell prey to Villanova 84-72, in the first round. ALL-SOUTHERN CONFERENCE TEAM: FIRST TEAM: Regan Truesdale, The Citadel Gerald Wilkins, UT-Chattanooga Gay Elmore, VMI Skip Henderson, Marshall Quinton Lytle, Western Carolina SECOND TEAM: Glenn Clyburn, Appalachian State Derek Rucker, Davidson Clifford Morgan, UT-Chattanooga Noel Gilliard, Furman Cedric Wins, VMI HONORABLE MENTION: Jimmy Tharpe, The Citadel Jeff Guthrie, Marshall \tt»....«.tiit'.L»M..ti..-.m«v.tiill.'.ig i ^^^^%-1^-^'%^^^-^^--a»'»^^.^-*»-»a.»-»-^^^^»v^^^--«a.-«»-«»-a>> Asheville Hosts Tournament For Second Consecutive Year By Billy Graham Sports Writer The Southern Conference basketball tournament, to be played this weekend in Asheville, has been, since it's arrival in 1984, quite a success for that town in both financial and artistic terms. Last year's tourney drew a surprising amount of support, with far-flung schools such as Marshall and The Citadel buying up large blocks of Civic Center seats, and many of the city's hotel and motel rooms. The tournament's four sessions were viewed by a total of 23,664 fans, for an average of 5,911 per session. Such success during the tourney's first year in Asheville took many city merchants by surprise, said a spokesman for the Asheville Chamber of Commerce, but he was quick ion assurances that store, hotel, and restaurant entrepreneurs are prepared for this year's gathering, for which tickets are nearly sold out. Alan Mason, Sports Director for WLOS T.V. in Asheville also expressed optimism for the possibilities of this year's tournament. "The excitement is really building for this year's tourney," Mason stated, "Last year's tournament was a big success, but hopes are high among all involved for improvement this year. The plans are really shaping up well." rhe ideally centered location, in addition to the enthusiasm with which the tournament has been welcomed to Asheville leaves little doubt that the western North Caro'ma citv will continue to host the season-closing basketball tourney for the Southern Conference in years to come.
Object