Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Niaga BY STEVE PARKER Ast. Sports Editor Niagara's efforts on the court this season appear to once again be geared toward obtaining a berth in the NIT post-season tournament. For the first time in years the Purple Eagles do not have a single player who can be viewed as a true standout stai on the court. For sea JOHN PECORAK ...'underated player.' Davidsc k to quick BY BILL GRANT Sports News Editor Ever since the Lefty Driesell regime, it has been hard to go against the Davidson Wildcats as the odds on favorite to win the Southern Conference Champion ship and move on to the NCAA regionals. But now many of the nations most respected sports publications see Furman, not the Wildcats, as the hiers to the Conference crown. All of this is happening while Davidson has never had more tal ent, according to head coach Terry Holland,whoinheritedDriesell'sjob four years ago. Holland should know, having been around as a player and coach for 11 years. Only two starters are missing from last season's 19-9 ballclub and Holland admits that this season's version, "could win five or six more games." He also predicts the team will equally strong offensively and even better defensively. The three starters that Holland will welcome back are John Pecorak Mike Sorrentino and John Falconi. Petorik, a 6-6 forward, averaged a mere 11.5 points for the Wildcats but Holland insists he's one of the "most underated players" in the county. Falconi, who paced the Davidson scoring attack, with a 16.1 PPg average in 1972. When teamed with Sorrentino in the same back court they give the Wildcats one'of the best one-two guard combina tions in the country. The other members of Davidson's starting five will be chosen from T. Across frou USC ROUiNDnniOr ra's top sons now, the Niagara squad has been paced by the play of either Cal vin Murphy or Marshall Wingate but the latter's graduation last year means that the team will now need a strong unified effort to again attain what seems their annual par ticipation in the NIT. With no superstar backcourtman around to assume the team's quar terback position, the reigns of team TERRY HOLLAND ...At Davidson helm. >n losing i -rising Eu Jay Pecorak, Steve Gladaire and Paul Wagner, a starter until suffer ing knee injury last season. Holland also has on hand the sophomores from a best ever 17-2 frosh squad. The cream of the crop appears to be 6-5 Greg Dunn who had 22.5 ppg average for the Kit tens. So in losing only two starters Davidson again appears as solid as ever. And Furman appears to be on the verge of breaking into the national spotlight. As usual, it looks lOsi BICY Quality European Bi4 Manufactured By: G Paris-Sport, Falcon-NI In Colui C A TE'S C Box Cedar Terrace S 6420 Sumter Pho 776 1:15 to 8 p.m. M hopes leadership will fall to 5-10 senior guard Al Williams. When Williams entered Niagara four years ago Murphy was the team leader and Wingate was just coming into the varsity picture. Williams cannot score at nearly the pace of either of the former Purple Eagle captains but his strong handling of the ball has lead several experts to consider him a more than capable replace MIKE SORRENTINO ...veteran backcourt ace. )restige irman like an interesting season in the Southern Conference. Across from USC ROUNDHOUSE 3EED CLES :ycles ,From $95.00 itane, Bottecchia, aino, Cinell, Colnago rnbla See: 'OTT AGE 9342 hopping Center Hwy. (29209) ne: 1209 on. through sat. are,fo ment at the slot. Williams has played in both of his previous varsity campaigns and scored at a pace of 12.1 and 13.9. He also has been the team high man in steals and assist passes. Once past Williams the team is not nearly as talented individually as the past few Niagara squads. Depth appears to be the strength of the smallish byt quick team which fea tures just a lone upper-classman over 6-7 on its roster, in the person of 6-11 senior center Jim Hegmann. Joining Hegmann under the boards will be forwards Cleve Roys ter, a 6-6 junior who snatched down 8.8 rebounds an outing last year while also scoring at a pace of over ten points, and 6-5 senior Craig Ellis, who produced his finest var sity efforts in last season's NIT role for the Purple Eagles. The other guard position will probably feature senior Doug Far rell, but by season action 6-2 sopho more George Rautins who hit at a 26 point average could see consider able action. GOwi GAME( This Se ti" T hs F wear Ma we uggst te t orposilyth lssfom RIT OP sma en. ,.. r NIT Niagara can take consolation in that fact that both their freshmen and sophomore classes feature an abundance of taller players and so the future, perhaps even the immediate future with the*new rules, has to be a Purple Eagle high lite. - Despite a talented team which features some strong overall ballplayers, the Purple Eagles may have to play over their heads to attain the success of last year's squad which managed to travel all the way to the NIT championship game before suffering a 100-69 set back at the hands of a tougher Mary land team. Many people feel Layden's team would not have progressed that far if not for the play of Wingate. A good omen is that the name Wingate once again appears on the roster, this time in the person of Marshall's brother Bruce. But an omen or not, it will be the play of Williams and the team as a unit that will eventu ally decide just how high off the ground the Purple Eagles will fly this season. th the OCKS! n ason .A pN II, e Nlv ~~A."