COLLEGE HOOPS: VI men hold on; women's win streak snapped

What began as a great week for the Virginia Intermont men’s basketball team was in danger of turning downright ghoulish.

Enter Justin Morris.

With the Cobras on the brink of blowing a 10-point lead in the final minute Saturday, Morris sought out the ball and knocked down a pair of free throws with 18.5 seconds left to boost VI’s lead back to four in what would shortly thereafter wind up an 85-80 victory for VI over Appalachian Athletic Conference foe Union.

“I’ve just got to stay composed for my team,” Morris said. “As a captain, I’ve got to be a leader out there and stay poised – and stepping up and making free throws is something I have to do.”

Morris, second in the AAC with an average of 21.2 points per contest, played just a few seconds short of a full game as he put in 26 points to lead all scorers.

The junior guard, a transfer out of St. Catherine’s College, also hit 8 of 10 free throws, making his clinching pair after missing his only two from the line with VI leading 81-71 with a minute left.

Starting with Morris’ misses, the Cobras hit just 1 of 8 free throws over a 31-second span as Union hit three 3-pointers to draw within 82-80 before Morris saved the day.

“It’s the old adage of great players in big situations have to want to ball to make big plays and he did,” said VI coach Scott Hoagland. “He made the free throws when we needed them.”

VI (12-13, 4-8) began the week with one of its biggest victories in years, shocking local rival King College on Monday before coughing up its momentum by suffering a 75-73 conference road loss to Bryan on Wednesday with a late collapse.

Union (6-21, 3-10) is languishing at the bottom of the AAC, but had defeated VI 110-102 when the teams met in Kentucky on Jan. 7.

“It was just huge just for us to get our momentum back and get us back going,” Morris said. “We had to get this game.”

In addition to Morris’ latest strong performance, senior Jimmie Ross turned in a huge game Saturday for the Cobras, putting in a career-high 19 points and snatching eight rebounds – not to mention a pair of dunks and an acrobatic alley-oop where he tipped in a high pass as he was being fouled.

Hoagland said the Bulldogs played man-to-man defense on everyone except Ross – a high-energy starter known more for his defensive exploits and athleticism than his 6.6 points per game.

“Jimmie just kind of took over driving that ball at the rim and just kind of took it upon himself that he was single-handedly going to take that one-man zone and prove a point tonight – and he did,” Hoagland said.

The Cobras led 42-31 at halftime and kept the lead at eight or above for much of the second half until things got dicey late.

Ross helped squash the Bulldogs most dangerous push until the final minute, swishing a 3 that sparked a 7-0 run after Union had pulled within 63-59 with 7:36 to play.

“It was a vintage Jimmie Ross performance,” Hoagland said.

Union was led by Josh Hurd with 18 points and 12 rebounds and also got 18 points from Carlos Sanford. Joshua Hart added 17 points for VI, while Tihlee Anderson contributed a team-high four assists.

While breaking into the top four of the AAC to earn a home game at the Cobra Den for the first round of the conference tournament remains a long shot, VI still has the opportunity to make a significant move up the league standings from its current spot in a tie for seventh with four games remaining.

“Our goal right now is to win out,” Morris said. “It’s shut-up-or-put-up time. That’s what time it is for us. We have to do this.”

WOMEN

Union 62, VI 57

A cold-shooting night cooled the Cobras.

Winners of seven straight entering Saturday – a streak that saw them rise to a tie atop the Appalachian Athletic Conference standings – the Cobras hit just 21 of 68 shots (31 percent) and couldn’t quite pull off another late-game escape.

“The played that zone and we settled for the outside shots,” said VI coach Jaclyn Dickens. “We didn’t attack inside very well.”

The Cobras (17-9, 10-4) had an especially rough night from beyond the arc as they hit just 4 of 25 3-pointers in their lowest-scoring output of the season.

“Usually we’re OK with some of those 3s that we shoot,” Dickens said. “We have some good shooters that just didn’t knock them down today.”

T.T. Webb led VI with 22 points, but shot just 9 of 23, including 2 of 11 from distance. Rainey Story added 15 points for the Cobras, but slowed after scoring 11 in the first half.

A 7-0 run for Union midway through the first half gave the Bulldogs (18-7, 9-5) an 18-12 advantage and they trailed only once more for a brief sequence early in the second half.

Union was led by Courtney Thomas with 17 points and also got 16 from Alyson Roberts.

The Cobras trailed by no more than five for the final five minutes, but could get no closer than two as Union hit 9 of 12 free throws down the stretch.

While VI remains in a three-way tie for second place in the AAC, the Cobras face the other three teams in the top four of the league for all but one of their final four games.

“The last few games we’ve got going, you look at the standings and they’re all right there,” Dickens said.

“We got to stay in it and not get down from this.”

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