44 percent doesn't cut it for UVa men's hoops
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
February 21, 2005

For 50 minutes of basketball and two overtimes, Virginia had amazing symmetry in Saturday’s 92-89 loss to Maryland.

The Cavaliers shot 44 percent from the field, 44 percent from the 3-point line and 44.4 percent from the free-throw line.

Of course, one of those “44s” is much worse than the others.

As is naturally the case with a double-overtime contest, the stat sheet was quite full Saturday. There were lots of numbers and lots of percentages but it was that free-throw total that was most prominent.

The Cavaliers were 12 of 27 from the stripe, including a 3 of 13 effort from Elton Brown. In the two overtimes, the Cavaliers were just 1 of 4 from the line with Brown missing two with 19 seconds left in the second overtime and the Cavaliers trailing 91-89.

“We played as hard as we could play. … We shot 12 of 27 from the free-throw line. As hard as we played and as great as we played, you have to make free throws to win,” Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. “All the good things you do are hurt by that stat.”

Clearly, the weakest part of Brown’s game is at the line. Maryland coach Gary Williams did not admit to telling his players to foul Brown instead of simply giving up a basket but one can read between the lines.

“You look at the stats. I can’t give away secrets,” quipped Williams. “I thought he was going to make that last one [basket] and then he missed the free throws. I thought we almost gave him a three-point play there at the end. He’s a good player and the free throws shouldn’t take away from that.”

Free throws are probably the most individualistic item in what is otherwise a team game. For UVa freshman guard Sean Singletary, who fouled out in the second overtime after scoring 23 points and collecting nine assists, was asked after the contest how helpless he felt on the bench watching his teammate struggle at the line.

“It just hurts to lose,” Singletary said repeatedly.

Saturday’s game was likely Virginia’s last-ditch chance to make any kind of run toward the NCAA Tournament. Now sitting a 13-11 and 4-9 in the ACC, those flickering hopes have essentially gone out.

After the game, the Virginia locker room expectedly was filled with disappointment.

“This game is over with. We have to move on for our next game,” Devin Smith said.

Added Gillen: “They’re bleeding now because they really wanted to win but only one team can win.”

Cavalier tennis falters vs. No. 1
From Staff Reports / Charlottesville Daily Progress
February 21, 2005

CHICAGO - The No. 9-ranked Virginia men’s tennis team suffered its first loss of the season, falling to No. 1 Baylor, 4-1, in the championship match of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships Sunday afternoon at the Mid-Town Tennis Club.

The Cavaliers had defeated three top 10 teams to reach the final, but couldn’t snap the Bears’ 34-match winning streak.

“Today’s match was a great college tennis match,” Virginia head coach Brian Boland said. “We came ready to play and just fell short. We are extremely disappointed in today’s outcome but are really pleased with the team’s overall effort.”

Virginia (8-1) fell behind early as Baylor took the doubles point. The team of Doug Stewart and Darrin Cohen were defeated by Benjamin Becker and Jon Reckeway at No. 3 doubles.

Baylor clinched the point when Benedikt Dorsch and Matija Zgaga topped Rylan Rizza and Nick Meythaler at No. 1 doubles.

The Bears (8-0) added to their lead as Zgaga downed Marko Miklo in straight sets at No. 4 singles. Baylor made the score 3-0 when Dorsch topped Stewart 6-3, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.

Virginia cut the lead to 3-1 when Cohen concluded a 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 win over Vladimir Portnov at No. 6 singles. Baylor then clinched the match when Michal Kokta held off Treat Huey 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 at No. 5 singles. Both remaining matches were abandoned in the third set, including at No. 2 singles where Rizza led Becker, the 2004 NCAA Singles Champion, in the third set.

“I believe each player on this team came ready to play and left it all on the court,” Boland said. “Even though we lost a hard fought doubles point, we still had a chance to win the match down 3-1 with three 3-set matches on the court. I know this team will learn from this loss. We need to keep focusing on improving as we get ready for our ACC opener against a very good Virginia Tech team. I would also like to personally thank all the Cavalier fans that traveled from Virginia and elsewhere to Chicago to support us this week. We really appreciated it.”

The Cavaliers will likely receive the highest ranking in school history when the new rankings come out on Tuesday.

Virginia returns home to open the ACC season on Friday night when they host conference newcomer Virginia Tech at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. Time of the match is 6:30 p.m.
 

Men's lacrosse opens with win
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
February 21, 2005

Virginia men’s lacrosse coach Dom Starsia’s team had played three scrimmages prior to Sunday’s season-opener against Drexel. They played well in those scrimmages but they are just that, scrimmages.

Starsia stressed that Sunday was the real thing.

“Putting on the uniform and playing a game is different than playing a scrimmage,” Starsia said.

The Cavaliers indeed put on the uniforms, overcame a little early sluggishness and the occasional snow flurry and notched a 16-7 victory at the University Hall Turf Field.

Matt Ward had five goals and an assist and Matt Poskay added four goals as the Cavaliers (1-0) used an 8-0 second quarter en route to the victory. Jared Little and Drew Thompson each had two goals for Virginia while Kyle Dixon and freshman Ben Rubeor each contributed a goal and three assists.

“We were happy to get the win. That’s an improved Drexel team. We still have a ways to go and I’m sure it won’t be hard to get the team’s attention [today] in practice,” Starsia said.

Pat Simpson had two goals for Drexel (0-1), which fell to Virginia for the fourth straight year fell to in both teams’ season opener.

The Cavaliers, ranked as high as sixth in some preseason publications, found themselves tied with the Dragons 2-2 after the first quarter. Virginia had a little difficulty in finishing its opportunities in the first 15 minutes, which may have been reflective of the fact it was indeed the opener.

“We looked tentative early and that did not surprise me,” Starsia said.

At the dawn of the second quarter, the Cavaliers found their rhythm and it started with crisp transitions from the faceoff circle to the offensive end. Jack deVilliers won four of the nine faceoffs in the quarter, but each one he captured seemed to almost instantly lead to a Virginia goal.

“We started to win the ball on the faceoff, get the ball behind them and create some unsettled situations. That’s the best part of our game. We can do those kind of things and that’s what we were doing in the second quarter,” Starsia said.

Ward started the scoring spurt with a goal with 13:29 left before halftime and then Rubeor sustained that momentum with a man-down tally just two minutes later.

Punctuating Virginia’s knack for a smooth faceoff-to-offense transition came with just three minutes in the quarter. After a Poskay goal made it 6-2 with 2:58 remaining, deVilliers won the ensuing faceoff, sped down the turf and found Ward for a goal and the 7-2 advantage. Total elapsed time of that sequence? Just six seconds.

“The whole quarter started with the faceoff circle I thought. When you get a goal and keep getting the ball back, it’s tough for any team to come back,” Ward said. “We started playing good lacrosse and that’s the result; eight goals instead of two like in the first quarter.”

Little had two of the final three goals in quarter with the other coming on a length-of-the-field sprint by defenseman Steve Holmes.

The two teams essentially traded goals in the second half as Drexel only managed to reduce the deficit to seven on two occasions.

Starsia held to his gameplan with his two goalies. Kip Turner played the first half with Bud Petit playing the second half as was scripted by a set rotation. Turner had three saves and allowed two goals while Petit also had three saves and surrendered five goals. At least for now, those performances did not have Starsia altering his decision.

“I think they overall played fine. … I don’t know yet. I think it is something of a work in progress. I’m inclined to stay with it but we will have to wait a couple days and see,” Starsia said.

Note. Senior attackman John Christmas did not play and was not dressed Sunday. Starsia said he sat for a “team issue” and the decision to not play him had been made a while ago. Christmas will return to the lineup this week and is expected to play next Saturday against Manhattan.

The fine line between the dance and the NIT
Eye on Virginia
Patrick Hite

That thud you heard coming out of Charlottesville late Saturday afternoon was probably one of two things: Virginia's chances of landing a NCAA tournament berth or one of Elton Brown's free throws.

Let's face it, the Cavs' chances of dancing come March were already on shaky ground. Still, with a respectable RPI, some big wins out of conference and a schedule that at least gave Virginia a fighting chance to finish 7-9 in the ACC, there were those that liked Virginia's chances come Selection Sunday.

That was until Saturday.

Maryland's 92-89, double-overtime victory over Virginia reduced the Wahoos' shot at the NCAA tournament to miracle status. Heck, a bid to the NIT might be considered a longshot right now for Virginia.

And if you're looking for someone to blame for Saturday's loss, how about Brown?

If Brown would have just shot 46 percent from the foul line Saturday, his team may have seen a third overtime. Or, more likely, never have seen overtime number one. Instead, Brown made a miserable 3-of-13 (23 percent) from the charity stripe Saturday, and the Cavaliers fell by three points.

In Brown's only foul shots of the extra sessions, the big man botched two of them with 19 seconds remaining in the second overtime and his team down two. You think botched isn't fair? Brown clanked the first one off the back of the rim and then failed to hit anything when he missed the second foul shot short.

"It was a great college game," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "We shot 12-for-27 (as a team) from the free-throw line. As hard as we played, as courageous as we played, you've got to make free throws to win. You've got to rebound, make free throws and take care of the ball, and 12-for-27, if that's how poorly you shoot, then all the good things, unfortunately, are hurt by that stat."

And Brown was the main person Gillen pointed toward when talking about the problems from the foul line. When asked if Brown shoots free throws well in practice, Gillen didn't mince words.

"Not that well ... to be honest with you," Gillen said. "He's a very good player, but it's just mental. He was a big culprit today."

The missed foul shots overshadowed a tremendous effort by a resilient Virginia squad.

Virginia fought back from five points down with 2:39 remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime on a Gary Forbes three with four seconds showing on the clock.

Maryland then scored the first seven points of overtime number one, but again Virginia clawed its way back. Sean Singletary sat out the first minute and a half of that overtime with an injured ankle, but when he finally got back on the court, the freshman made an impact.

Singletary finished with 23 points and nine assists in the loss. In the first overtime, he scored eight points, including a three-point basket with 20 seconds remaining to knot the game at 82. He added four more in the second overtime before fouling out at the 2:20 mark.

"It's very difficult knowing that you're not out there with your team to help your team in a crisis like we had today," Singletary said. "We really need our energy, me and Gary (Forbes, who also fouled out in the second overtime). But we didn't have that at the end."

The missed free throws were far from Brown's only woes on the day. The senior finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds, but he missed two field-goal attempts in the final two minutes of the game, including a desperation three-pointer just before the horn.

Brown also mishandled an inbounds pass from J.R. Reynolds with just over a minute left in the final overtime and Virginia down by two. To add to his problems, Brown was at fault on that same play because he missed a screen.

Said Gillen, "Elton was supposed to screen ... (Chris) McCray. He didn't do that, and the guard was covered, and they threw it to Elton, and Elton dropped the ball."

That was a literal dropping of the ball. The same can be said, figuratively, for what the Cavs did with their slim shot at the NCAA tournament.

 

"Hack-a-Elton" works like poetry for maryland
Joey Mancini, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

At the end of Saturday's double overtime loss to Maryland, the stat sheet pretty much said it all.

There really weren't many numbers that stuck out -- Virginia had just 13 turnovers, rebounded well, and held the Terps to under 40 percent shooting in the game. In fact, there were few differences between the teams in any statistical category.

Except one.

The Cavaliers missed 15 of 27 shots from the free throw line, a pathetic 44 percent on the game. On the other side of the court, Maryland downed 25 of 34 freebies for a cool 73.5 percent.

Maryland's version of the "Hack-a-Shaq" method for containing Shaquille O'Neal worked wonders as applied to Sir Elton Brown on Saturday afternoon. By fouling in the paint to make every field goal difficult, the Terrapin defense challenged the center to earn his two points at the free throw line.

When a player makes these free throws, the strategy is essentially worthless as your fouls rise toward the one-and-one bonus level. Yet, when a player misses his free throws, the result is essentially a turnover.

Brown converted on just three of 13 attempts from the line for a free throw percentage of below 25 percent.

In the second overtime, Gary Forbes and Sean Singletary each exited with their fifth foul of the game after tallying a combined 40 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. With their hot hands relegated to the bench, Virginia looked for their seniors to lead the team to victory down the stretch.

It was then that Brown had his chance.

With 19 seconds remaining, the Cavaliers were down 91-89. Enduring a dismal day from the free throw line, Brown once again found himself face-on with the rim and a chance to tie the game.

In a scene straight out of Ernest Thayer's poem "Casey at the Bat," mighty Elton toed the line.

Teammates interlocked arms on the bench. The crowd cheered to give their senior renewed confidence and coerce their star to forget about the previous 11 attempts and focus on the pair at hand.

The first one hit rim and the arena exhaled in despair.

The second was worse, hitting the outside of the bottom of the net. It was an official airball from a senior at the free throw line at the end of a double overtime conference matchup.

Virginia did have one last chance, down three points with 13 seconds remaining. Without a timeout, the team was forced to improvise, and somehow Elton Brown found himself with the ball outside the three-point arc as time dwindled.

I really hoped that he would make the shot. A retro three-pointer from Brown's freshman year would send the game into a third overtime.

The ball fell a full foot short of the basket.

And as the teams shook hands in front of the scorer's table, Elton bypassed this formality and headed to the locker room. He was not available for comment to the media after the game.

Personnel in the media room after the contest credited Brown with his eleventh double-double of the season on 13 points and 12 rebounds. Outside of his free throw percentage, the center had played a decent game. He was still a player with the ability to take over a game in the paint. He was still a strong force on the court.

But there was no joy in Charlottesville that day, for mighty Elton had struck out.

Virginia opens title defense in style
National Champion Cavaliers defeat Johns Hopkins, Loyola, Ohio for first three victories of exhibition season
Adrian Vigil, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

BALTIMORE, MD – It was only a preseason tune-up, but in characteristic fashion, the Virginia women's lacrosse team won it all anyway.

The Cavaliers won all three of their exhibitions at the St. Charles Street Challenge hosted by Loyola College. Virginia started the day by defeating Johns Hopkins 5-3. The Cavaliers then defeated Loyola 9-7 before routing Ohio 14-3.

"I was excited by how the day went," Virginia coach Julie Myers said. "One of our preseason goals was to be prepared to play well today, and we did play well today."

The games were the first look for everyone else at a Cavalier team that is looking to defend its 2004 NCAA Championship. But it was not only the opposing teams that welcomed a chance to see this year's Virginia team in action. According to Cavalier players, the preseason scrimmages were a relief from lining up against teammates wearing orange and blue in practice.

"You can only get so many different perspectives playing against your teammates," senior Elizabeth Pinney said. "Having three great teams to play against is a big relief. We were all so excited to play against people other than our teammates."

Against the host Greyhounds, the Cavaliers used a 5-0 run in the second half to secure the win. Appelt opened the scoring in the second half with a fast break goal less than three minutes into the half. Appelt was able to score easily after Loyola goalie Kim Lawton brought the ball out too far and was caught out of position when on her teammates turned the ball over soon after receiving her pass.

Less than a minute later, Jess Wasilewski scored a goal following a nice pass from Ashleigh Haas. Haas soon scored two goals of her own as she was set up twice in front of the goal and shot in two passes from freshman Megan O'Malley. The goals were scored on nearly identical plays run in the 11th and 10th minutes of the half.

The Greyhounds tried to make a late comeback when they went on a scoring run of their own, scoring three goals in a little under 90 seconds. Loyola, however, could not overcome Virginia's lead, and despite getting a goal from Kate McHarg as time expired, lost the game.

"Loyola's transition game was tough for us," Myers said. "They went down and scored three goals on us [quickly]. They were really forcing the ball wide and picking it up. We need to work to limit those fast break opportunities."

The Cavaliers scored early and often in their final game of the day. Virginia's offense dominated against the Ohio defense and maintained ball control for most of the period. Ohio only managed to get one shot off in the entire half, which occurred at the 8:35 mark and found the back of the net. The Cavaliers scored eight goals in the half, including four from Kate Breslin. Appelt attributed the increased scoring the final two games to being comfortable on the field.

"The first game, we had just gotten off the bus -- it was kind of like 'Okay, go out and see what you can do," the senior said. "In the second two games, we really got comfortable and were able to do what we normally do."

The two players competing for playing time at the goalie position got equal playing time -- junior Ginger Miles and freshman Kendall McBearty played a half in each game.

"We're still in the process of making a decision," Myers said of the position battle. "We open in two weeks, so we still have a couple of practice opportunities."

Cavs start slow, down Drexel late
Tied 2-2 after one quarter, Virginia quickens pace, wins 16-7 behind five goals from junior Ward
Walker Freer, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

Before the men's lacrosse game between Virginia and Drexel even got started yesterday, the home team got off on the wrong foot. Due to technical difficulties with the PA system, game officials were forced to observe a moment of silence as opposed to singing the National Anthem. Fortunately for the Cavaliers, the technical mishap would prove to be the only trouble in their 16-7 dispatching of Drexel.

In what was the season opener for both squads, neither team looked particularly polished through the opening quarter as they played to a 2-2 tie.

"I'm not surprised it went that way in the early going," Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. "Putting on a uniform and playing a game is different than a scrimmage."

Fortunately for the Cavaliers, fifteen minutes was all they needed to warm up. Virginia pushed the lead to 5-2 on a goal from junior midfielder Kyle Dixon with 9:23 remaining in the first half, but it wasn't until six-and-a-half minutes later that Virginia finally exploded.

Led by senior attackman Matt Ward and fellow junior attackman Matt Poskay, the Cavaliers scored five goals in the final 2:58 of the first half, opening up a 10-2 halftime lead. The eight goal margin proved to be an insurmountable deficit for Drexel to overcome as the Dragons couldn't get any closer than seven goals during the second half.

Ward "was in the right place at the right time," Starsia said. "He shot the ball very well. If we can finish underneath with Poskay then we'll be a dangerous team."

Just six seconds after Poskay's goal gave Virginia a 6-2 lead with 2:58 remaining in the first half, Jack deVilliers quickly won the face-off and initiated a fast break. With Ward planted squarely on the crease in front of the goal, deVilliers fired a laser to Ward, who in one motion caught, turned and fired the ball into the back of the net for a goal.

"Once we started to get possession and Jack started winning some face-offs, we started to put some points on the board," Ward said. "That's our kind of lacrosse."

By the time the snow started to fall at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers were well on their way to a season opening victory, up 12-5.

On the day, Ward, Virginia's leading assist man from a year ago, had five goals and one assist to lead all Cavalier players. Freshman attackman Ben Rubeor, Poskay and Dixon all had four points apiece.

Senior John Christmas, a projected starter at attack, sat out Sunday due to a "team matter" but will be back in the lineup for the team's next game against Manhattan College on Saturday.

Sophomore Kip Turner got the starting nod in goal and played the entire first half, allowing only two goals and recording three saves. Red-shirt freshman Michael Petit came in at the start of the 3rd quarter, allowing five goals while also recording three saves.

Despite the nine-goal victory coupled with the arrival of snow flurries, the team wasn't fully pleased.

"I don't think we should be satisfied with the way we played," Ward said. "Hopefully we'll keep getting better everyday in practice and next week we'll be playing even better lacrosse."