Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Outside shoot Gam By GARY WEST Sports Writer Carolina overcame an 11 point deficit in the first half and held off an inspired Davidson team with some clutch outside shooting, 86 82, before 11,666 screaming fans. The two teams played on even terms the first few moments until Steve Cadaire connected on a short jumper with 15:40 left giving the Wildcats a 11-9 lead. Davidson then T.J. Pecorak (43) rises from bench to restrain head c4 Holland from further argum Wildcats' describes By DOUG WILLIAMS Sports Editor Davidson coach Terry Holl and wandered into the press room of the Charlotte Coliseum very unobtrusively. At first glance, no one really recognized him. He stood around waiting for someone to begin asking him some post game questions. To say the very least, he was not too awfully happy. ''What do you want me to say," he opened. Everyone looked at each other. ''I think our kids played their guts out. I honestly feel we played as good a game as we are capable of playing. South Carolina has a nice team and they deserve to be ranked.'' Nice is the way he described the Gamecocks after USC withstood a late Davidson rally to drop the Wildcats, 88-82 In the unfriendly confInes of Charlotte's Coliseum. BesIdes the loss, Holland was called for two technical fouls and the Davidson bench was hit with a third. Late in the game, he charged from his seat onto the ng halts como ecocks proceeded to score the next nine points, holding Carolina scoreless until Tom Riker sank a free throw at 12:32 and Davidson ahead, 20-10. The Wildcats held an 11 point lead until Brian Winters completed a three point play with 10:56 remaining cutting the lead to 25-17. Winters and Riker scored the next eight Carolina points and held Davidson scoreless, as the 401 Strike two the Wildcat official, as )ach Terry second tech mt with the Saturday. Terry H USC as court to inform the official of a mistake and for some strange reason, was not ejected. Meanwhile, while no one could con jure the ner ve to ask Holland how he felt about the officiating, the young coach concentrated on the game. Winters ''There were a couple of stretches where we missed shots, but outside of that, It was a pretty consistent basketball game. ''We are playing the type ot back hold of Gamecocks' man to man defense began to pay off dividends, knotting the score, 25-25. The lead changed hands several times until Joyce scored seven straight Carolina points to move the Gamecocks on top, 42-37. Joe Sutter scored the last four points of the half, bringing Davidson within one, 42-41. Joyce opened the second half with a three point play, increasing It 0) - Tom Price Holland is being given his nical in the USC victory >diand race basketball I would like to see us play going into the tour nament," he said, referring to Davidson's possible entry into the NCAA tourney, though they still must compete in the Southern Conference tour nament. "Eric Minkin is in jured, but is able to play." Minkin, the Davidson center, has been sidelined with an ankle injury and played only 9: 16 of Sat urday's game. "Obviously, the fact that we were outsized gave them some very easy shots inside," he continued. "We knew that one of our biggest problems was trying to shut them off inside, without giving up too much outside. But that's where they hurt us. When you've got a great player like Winters (USC's Brian) coming off the bench and do as well as he did today, you have got to have a good team." Finally, someone asked Holland who the third technical was called on. He glared at the writer, saying "I really don't know." Then, as he strode from the room, he turned and said, "In fact, I don't know who the first one, or the second one V was called on."a f Davi Carolina's lead to 45-41. Riker then picked up his fourth foul along with a technical, departing to the bench with 19:20 left in the game and the Wildcats within two, 45-43. Winters connected on an assist from Bobby Carver with 16:43, upping the lead to 53-47. Two baskets by Joyce and a hook from Traylor and the 3amecocks were up by ten 59-49. USC flirted with a twelve point lead twice, 63-51 and 67-55, before :he Wildcats began gradually :utting it. Riker's basket with 2:36 remaining gave Carolina a 79-70 ead, but John Falconi and John Pecorak brought Davidson within ive at 79-74. Winters sank one :echnical foul and two free throws, yiving USC an 82-78 margin. ,arver then scored the Gamecocks ast six points, bringing the final margin to 88-82. Winters, who came off the bench n the first half, took game scoring ionors with a career high of 24 points, hitting on eight of 13 from he field and a perfect slate from the foul line. Joyce followed with 23 points and ,vas the only player besides Mike 3orrentino of Davidson to play the !ntire forty minutes. The Gamecocks outshot their opponents 56 per cent to 42 per cent but were outrebounded 36-33 and made ten more turnovers, allowing the Wildcats to stay close. "It was a good ball game and I thought both teams played well," said Coach Frank McGuire. "Davidson's outside shooting collapsed on them when we shifted from the zone, and that's how we were able to get back in the game. "We got running when we went to the man to man defense. They missed some shots and we were able to catch up. Winters did a great job for us off the bench and Joyce played his usual game. "Davidson has excellent ball players. I've known Falconi since Red Auerback's camp. We recruit in the same area and when we meet, anything can happen." Sure Carolina's Kevin Joyce take oe Sutter in first period c Iildcats, 88-82. Joy ce scored: ssists in the 40-min..te effo. .dson Davidson tried to offset the Gamecocks superiority by sagging inside, but Danny Traylor and Riker responded with 30 points. "Riker has been making us go Traylor lately, but he only played 26 minutes because of fouls. Tom hasn't played a complete game up here in his career. I guess it's his strength. "We studied the pictures and decided Friday afternoon to play a zone in hopes of giving Traylor and Riker a rest. But we weren't aggressive enough in our zone and Davidson was getting too many shots. We called time out and I told them, 'Now you asked for it, start pressing.' Traylor, who pulled down 12 rebounds and blocked several shots, drew praise from McGuire. "Danny meant everything today. He intimidates them blocking shots like Chamberlain does and he was turning well on the pivot. He can be a real great one. "I've always felt I designed this place, we played the first game here against Georgia Tech. It's one of the finest playing floors around, it's like a small Madison Square Garden." shot s jump shot over Davidson's f Carolina's win over the 23 points and handed out five -t.