Page 12
Sports
Bits
By Joe Mottillo
Collegian Staff
Clam Chowder: The New
England Patriots hired former
New York Giants coach and
TV analyst, Bill Parcels.
Parcels replaces departed coach
Dick MacPherson. Parcells is
7-3 in his career against the
AFC East.
The Big Apple: The New
York Giants replaced fired
coach, Ray Handley, with
former Denver Broncos coach,
Dan Reeves. Reeves coached
the Broncos to three Super
Bowl losses. One of which was
to Parcells and the Giants.
Holding On: Dallas
Maverick's first round pick,
Ohio State guard Jimmy
Jackson, is still holding out on
signing a contract with the
Mays. Jackson has been offered
Sl9 million.
Don't call it a comeback:
Former Houston Rockets star
Ralph Sampson is weighing
the decision of whether or not
to return to pro basketball. If
he returns, it won't be the,
NBA. Instead it will be in the
CBA, a minor league of sorts
for the NBA. Sampson is
currently an assistant at James
Madison University. He hasn't
played competively since he
played briefly in Spain last
year:
Deja Vu: The North Carolina
Tarheels are 16-1 to start this
season The last time the 'Heels
were 16-1 was when Jordan,
Worthy, and Perkins led them
to the NCAA championship in
1982. That was the only
basketball title the Tarheels
have won under coaching
legend, Dean Smith.
The Right to vote: The
leading vote getters in the
Eastern Conference arc in.
Michael Jordan leads all players
with 521,597. He is joined in
the backcourt by Philadelphia
76cr, Jeff Hornacek. The
forwards are Scottie Pippen of
the Chicago Bulls and Larry
Johnson of the Charlotte
Hornets. The man in the
middle is rookie sensation of
the Orlando Magic, Shaquille
O'Neal.
Local Cagers: The Gannon
Golden Nights Men's
basketball team is ranked 12th
in the nation in Division 11.
The Golden Nights are 14-4 on
the season.
The ruling board: Sports
editors Matt Cissne and Keith
McFall have finally made their
Super Bowl picks. Matt picks
the Dallas Cowboys over the
Buffalo Bills (You know how
good his picks are). Keith
picks the Cowboys also.
Thorne sticks out for Lions
knel,BalcitaJ photographer
Concentration: Off-guard Byron Thorne eyes up the
hoop during a practice session earlier this week.
Lady Lions slum
by Hal Coffey
Collegian Staff
After beginning the season at
11-3, the Lady Lions have hit a
dry spell with two potentially
damaging road losses to
Waynesburg (60-67) and Buffalo
State (67-79).
How could a team who had
been holding opponents to an
average of 26 second half points
give up 46 second half points to
Buffalo State and 79 overall?
Coach Jenepher Banker's
explanation was a "lack of
intensive defense," but an even
stronger reason was the disparity
of foul shots. Buffalo State
made 37 of 63 (59%) foul shots,
yes foul shots, while the Lady
Lions made only 8 of 15.
Not only are those 63 free
throws and 38 Behrend fouls a
possible NCAA record, but to
magnify the point Lupe Todd of
Buffalo Smite made 11 of 16 free
throws, one more attempt than
all of the Bhrend team.
Banker cannot explain how
Behrend was so heavily
penalized. "We played the same
type of defense, but most of the
calls fell against our side."
StatisticallyN it was Behrend's
worst game in Banker's three
year stint as coach.
M!M
Listen up: Lady Lion's coach Jenepher Banker gives words of encouragement to senior
guard Darcie Bradley.
Perhaps one of the few bright
spots during the two game road
trip was the performance of
Krista Hershener against
Waynesburg. Her 18 points and
14 of 17(82%) free throws were
both team highs.
Banker is not as upset with
the rest of the offense as she is
with the defensive drought. She
believes that in order for the
team to get on a needed winning
streak, "We must go back to our
Thursday, January 28, 1993
by Matthew D. Cissne
Co-Editor
This week's Athlete of the
Week is Byron Thorne, one of
the leaders of the men's
basketball team.
Thorne, an off-guard, has had
to handle the ball more since an
injury to starting pointguard,
Don Plyler.
"Since the injury, I have had
to he more of a leader. Much of
the pressure of the on-court
leadership is now up to me,"
Thorne said.
Thorne has had an excellent
season. Through 18 games he is
averaging 11.6 points per game,
3.9 rebounds a game and is
leading the team in assists with
69.
Although Thorne is playing
solid ball, he is not fully
satisfied with his game. "I feel
that I can improve my foul
shooting, my outside
jumpshots, and my leadership. I
need to make sure that mentally,
everyone is ready to play,"
Thorne said.
The Lions are currently 8-10
and have won three out of their
last four games. Thorne said,
strength, woman-to-woman
tight defense".
As to why the Lady Lions
have lost only one home game,
Banker believes that the crowd
plays a big part, especially the
band and cheerleaders.
The big games must translate
to big wins for the Lady Lions
to get an NCAA or ECAC bid.
If fan support and defensive
skills get back to the high level
that they were at the begining of
"The effort has been there, but
we have made some bad
decisions at the end of games."
Thorne enjoys the camaraderie
of the team. "All eight members
of the team are friends, and the
five starters may be the five
closest friends on campus."
Thorne started playing
basketball in sixth grade, and
during his senior year at
Vincentian High School in
Pittsburgh, he was named to the
Pittsburgh Fabulous Five, a
Pittsburgh all-star team.
Thorne is a big Pitt
basketball fan, and used to be a
big Michael Jordan fan.
"I really liked Michael Jordan
until I read his book," Thorne
said.
When he is not at class or
watching or playing basketball,
he enjoys sleeping.
Thorne is an MIS major and
hopes to find a job that he will
enjoy.
He coaches basketball in the
summer, and he hopes to coach
in the future.
"I really enjoy coaching and
working with children. I plan
on coaching after I graduate."
Arnel Balcit& photographer
the season, then the bid will be
theirs.
Editor's note: The
result of the Lady Lion's
game played last night
against Washington and
Jefferson came in after
press time. The Lions
lost 63-67 in overtime.
No other details were
available.