The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 32

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Sunday, March 6, 1994 College Basketball Temple's Cunningham still looking for redemption He admits he hasn't been able to cross the vast gap between high school and big-time college basketball. with a determined effort against Michigan's Chris Webber in the West Regional final in the NCAA tournament. That's when Chaney said that the fate of the Owls this season would rest with his youthful center. "He was just trying to get me to play up to my potential," Cunningham said. "It wasn't too much pressure.

It made me work harder." Cunningham realizes he has an important role, but he also knows it is a role that complements the wizardry that Aaron McKie, Eddie Jones and Rick Brunson bring to the floor. Since he has three of the nation's finest perimeter players, Chaney simply asks Cunningham to anchor the defense, provide muscle and patrol the boards. Chaney feels that Cunningham's scoring, if there is to be any, should come through his own zeal in the form of offensive rebounds and the like. "There's a big change as far as his knowledge of what we want him to do," Demopoulos said. "To the naked eye, to the casual observer, it might appear that he has made no improve ment" The first sign of his progress showed itself when the sophomore arrived nearly 30 pounds lighter, after a summer's work.

As a freshman, he weighed 280 pounds. That weight undermined Cunningham's self-confidence and hampered his advancement As a junior at Glen Hills High School, Cunningham was a sleek, quick player. He averaged 115 points and 11.6 boards his senior year, but already had started to gain weight thea "When we first saw him, he was a kid who used quickness and ran the floor, but he weighed 210 pounds," Demopoulos said. "Then we looked up; lo and behold, he weighed 280. That must have been frustrating for him." Vowing to become all that Chaney had challenged him to be, Cunningham worked like a mule during the off-season and cut down on his intake of red meat.

With the weight loss, Cunningham improved his physical condition, but he still is struggling to regain the Much of that can be credited to the predatory matchup zone that coach John Chaney favors. Still, that defensive plan, like many others, is useless without some clout in the middle. "Being able to control that middle is the thing I've improved the most," Cunningham said. "I'm pretty proud of that." In other areas, the Owls' big man hasn't been as consistent At any Temple game, a few high-pitched shrieks from Chaney can be heard above the din as he tries to coax certain reactions out of Cunningham. During the 1992-93 season, Chaney once called Cunningham a "lighthouse," meaning that he is tall and stationary.

This season, Chaney even wondered if he might have stunted Cunningham's development by being so demanding. Fresh out of Augusta, Cunningham arrived at Temple only to be thrust into a starting role six games into his freshman season when Temple lost senior center Fra-zier Johnson. Cunningham ended last season confidence he lost when he became a collegian. "We never played any guys any bigger than 16-6 teammate Jason Ivey," said Cunningham, recalling his high school days. "Maybe Aaron and Eddie would have been centers." Centers, Cunningham discovered quickly, are bigger and meaner in college, and the Temple pivotman is learning to rumble in the paint "He's going to take control of you, or you're going to take control of him," said Cunningham, describing his attitude toward the opposing center.

"You have to establish that in the first minute." Cunningham has had his moments. Against Tulane as a freshman, he got a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards. This season at Rhode Island, he snatched 10 rebounds, nine in the first half. But none of that matters to Cunningham. All he wants to hear is Chaney saying, "The lighthouse was swept out to sea, and now I have my center." That's the only way Cunningham can get redemption.

definition of "paralysis by analysis." "He's trying to do it by thinking his way through it," said Owls assistant Dean Demopoulos, who coaches Temple's frontcourt. "William was a project player. Most big players are." There is a vast gap between high school competition and top-25 NCAA Division I basketball, and Cunningham admits that he hasn't crossed it. However, he remains optimistic. "I'm continually getting better and better," said Cunningham, an articulate lad with piercing, intelligent eyes.

"I'm able to stand in the post. I don't think we've faced a center yet who's hit double figures." Fairleigh Dickinson's Tanner Robinson scored 14 points in an 80-64 loss to the Owls, but no other pivotman Including the 7-1 Yinka Dare of George Washington, Duke's 7-foot Cherokee Parks or the silky-smooth Clifford Rozier of Louisville has gotten double digits against the Owls. By Mike Bruton INQUIRER STAFF WK1TKR As Temple carries high expecta-. tions into the postseason, William Cunningham still looks for redemp- tion. In his second season with the Owls, the sophomore center plays every game with his face frozen in a stern mask.

He battles mightily, yet his good deeds tend to get lost in the melee, leaving only his mistakes visible. At 6-fooMl and 250 pounds, his body looks like wrought iron. And that prominent stature seems to 1 promise a lot more than the 1.5 points and 4.2 rebounds Cunning-i ham averaged this season. i Aware that fans generally perceive him as an underachiever, Cunning-, bam tries harder and lingers mentally too often on the slightest mistake. if there was a coaches' version of Webster's dictionary, a picture of Cunningham would accompany the Hawks outplay pennies, 94-83 no-name players from St.

Joe's again exceeded i expectations. They face UMass next. By Ray Parrillo INQUIRER STAFF WRITKR When his blood pressure finally i dropped to its postgame level after St. Joseph's outgunned St. Bonaventure, 94-83, in yesterday's Atlantic Ten Conference tournament preliminary -found at the Palestra, Hawks coach John Griffin at long last let down the lough veneer that has enabled him endure a season of unusual adver- sity.

The intense, young Griffin, who 'stubbornly refused to curse his team's luck while one key Hawk after another was fitted with a cast this season, turned loose an unsolicited torrent of praise for the survivors in his program. "Think about how many teams in the country could have accomplished what this team has with so many no-name players," Griffin said. "To step up like they did and finish .500 after you've lost four of your top players, well, it has to be one of the most remarkable things that's happened in college basketball this year." St. Joe's (14-13) gets another chance to step up tonight in the quarterfinals against top-seeded Massachusetts. The Hawks will be huge underdogs, but they'll be loose and highly motivated because they believe John Calipari's gifted Minute- Penn at Cornell Today, 2 p.m., Newman Arena, Ithaca, NX Broadcast: WSSJ-AM (1310).

Records: Penn 22-2 overall, 12-0 Ivy League; Cornell 8-16, 3-9. Coaches: Penn, Fran Dunphy (fifth season, 81-48); Cornell, Al Walker (first season, 8-16). Starting lineups: Penn Barry Pierce, 6-3, 13.3 ppg. Shawn Trice, 6-7, 9.2. Eric Moore, 6-6, 8.0.

Jerome Allen, 6-4, 14.2. Matt Maloney, 6-3, 13.8. Cornell FZeke Marshall, 6-4, 14.3. Justin Treadwell, 6-7, 16.3. James Escarzega, 6-9, 2.2.

Frank Ableson 6-2, 7.2. Brandt Schuckman, 6-2, 1 1.8. Keys to the game: For Penn, getting excited for an afternoon start after clinching the Ivy League title, and figuring out a way to slow down Treadwell, who had a career-high 28 points at the Palestra the last time the two teams met. For Cornell, finding some decent shots from somebody other than Treadwell. Injuries: Cornell sophomore guard Tim Nash is out for the season with a broken leg.

Penn update: The Quakers beat Princeton on Wednesday to gain entry to the NCAA tournament. This seemed to cause some excitement at the Palestra last week. Penn also broke into the Associated Press Top 25 last week for the first time since 1979, and will hold that position or move up with a win today Maloney was too much for Princeton, scoring 24 points and causing all sorts of problems at both ends of the floor. The Quakers still have another mark to shoot for. Some players have talked about how much it would mean to go undefeated again.

The Penn team from 1969 to '7 1 has been the only squad to go undefeated in consecutive seasons since formal league play started in 1957. (Columbia actually went 10-0 in 1904 and 8-0 in 1905.) Going into this game, the Quakers have won 27 straight Ivy games, three short of the league record that earlier Penn group set in 1971. Cornell update: Treadwell is the leading scorer and the second-leading rebounder (8.0) in the Ivy League. Playing better than they did early on, the Big Red split their games in New England last weekend, beating Harvard, 62-60, and losing at Dartmouth, 72-69. Marshall, nearing the end of his career, has come on strong.

He had 32 points in the two games. Mike Jensen buzzer-beater from about 20 feet. "When we made mistakes, Drexel capitalized, and that's something they do better than anyone," Fogel said. "They don't have great individual players, but the sum is greater than Atlantic Ten Men's Basketball Tournament Opening round Quarterfinals today Palestra i oatuiuay Palestra Semifinals Monday Palestra Wildcats outlast Hurricanes VILLANOVA from C1 threw a shutout at them for the first 5 minutes, 52 seconds of the game. Miami had an 11-0 lead when Eberz tossed in an 18-foot jumper with 14:08 left in the first half.

The Wildcats already had made three steals, but had also committed five turnovers two on offensive fouls. Kerry Kittles, the No. 4 scorer in the conference, didn't find the hoop until 2:14 remained in the half. When Kittles struggles, Villanova tends to rattle, not hum. So it wasn't surprising that his first successful shot was a three-pointer that gave Villanova its first lead, 26-25.

The Wildcats ended the half tied at 30-30, after two foul shots by Lawson. A few weeks ago, the sight of Law-son at the line produced anxiety among Villanova fans. His free-throw accuracy dipped as low as 42 percent while he experimented with his shooting technique. The crowd at the Pavilion cheered every successful foul shot as if it were a monster dunk. However, Lawson had raised his accuracy to 52.8 percent before last night.

When the free throws fell through the hoop last night, the fans treated them as routine. They saved the big applause for a more deserving play. In the first half, Lawson pursued a loose ball by jumping over his own bench and into the crowd to chase it down. Lawson's performance was all the more surprising because Miami has two 7-footers. By the end of the first half, both had three fouls, while Lawson, who has fouled out 12 times this season, had just one.

Like his teammates, Lawson started the game slowly, missing a dunk on his first shot and walking on another possession. But the freshman kept challenging Miami's 7-foot-3 starting center, junior Constantin Popa, and the whistles started coming. Popa fouled out with 10:15 left in the game. His backup, William Davis, a 7-foot freshman, had to sit with four fouls for an extended period. Still, the Hurricanes stayed within single digits of the lead for most of the second half.

The first hint of garbage time came when Eberz, a finesse player, sailed in for a rare dunk with 4:31 left to extend Villano-va's advantage to 69-56. It was Senior Night at the Pavilion, but Lappas didn't feel safe bringing in his only player headed for graduation until IVi minutes from the end. Ray Dietz, a walk-on guard, made a three-pointer with 1:05 left in the game, receiving an ovation from the crowd and a hard low-five from Law-son as the freshman and senior got back on defense together. The Wildcats, after shooting 32.1 percent in the first half, came back with a tidy 51.9 percent in the second. They finished with 15 steals, "which included five each from Kittles and point guard Jonathan Haynes.

MIAMI Min FG-A FT-A A Pts Rich 26 3-5 0-1 4 2 4 6 Fraser 29 3-7 0-0 4 0 3 6 Popa 16 5-6 0-1 1 2 6 10 McCormick .13 0-1 0-0 0 6 2 0 Rosa 33 4-7 0-0 3 3 3 10 Johnson 9 0-1 0-0 3 0 1 0 Edwards 22 3-8 0-2 5 3 0 9 Frazier 16 2-4 0-0 2 3 1 6 Lawrence 13 1-1 3-3 3 0 2 5 Davis 16 3-3 1-5 4 0 4 7 High 2 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 Parker 3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 Pearson 2 1-1 0-0 0 1 2 Totals 200 26-46 4-12 34 19 2563 VILLANOVA Min FO-A FT-A A Pts Wilson 14 (M 22 2 0 4 2 Eberz 36 8-12 4-4 1 2 2 22 Lawson 34 2-4 17-21 12 1 4 21 Haynes 31 3-8 4-6 2 3 2 12 Kittles 39 5-16 0-0 0 2 2 12 Williams 36 3-7 2-2 4 5 3 9 Harris 6 0-2 0-0 2 1 0 0 Dietz 1 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 3 Penn 1 1-1 0-01002 Gregg 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 Cox 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 Totals 200 23-55 29-35 26 14 17 83 Halftime: Tied, Miami 30, Villanova 30. Three-point goals: Miami (7-15): McCormick 0-1, Rosa 2-4, Edwards 3-6, Frazier 2-3, Parker 0-1; Villanova (8-23): Eberz 2-4, Haynes 2-5, Kittles 2-8, Williams 1-2, Harris 0-2, Dietz 1-2. Steals: Miami 6, Villanova 15. Team rebounds: Miami 5, Villanova 2. Turnovers: Miami 28, Villanova 12.

Blocked shots: Miami 1, Villanova 6. Officials: Bob Donato, jyiike Kitts, Richardson Attendance: The Philadelphia Inquirer JERRY LODRIGUSS goes down while defending against Palestra. the Hawks this season. They shot 30 for 58 and a sharp 11 for 19 from three-point range. This following a 91-83 win at West Virginia and an 82-68 win over Duquesne.

ST. BONA. Min FO-A FT-A A Pts Moore 32 8-14 3-7 9 0 6 20 Mance 31 3-12 0-0 1 2 2 9 Quackenbush 30 3-9 5-6 10 2 2 12 McNeil 36 6-12 0-0 1 9 5 13 Vanterpool 32 7-16 2-2 6 1 4 19 20 3-7 0-0 2 1 6 8 Shelton 4 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 2 Hauff 8 0-1 0-1 3 0 1 0 Glidden 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 Palmer 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 Satalin 1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 Moblev 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 Totals 200 31-73 10-16 32 15 25 83 ST JOSEPH' SMin FG-A FT-A RAF Pt Warley 31 5-9 6-7 8 0 4 16 Domani 34 5-10 3-6 7 1 2 16 Townsend .24 4-8 3-4 4 0 3 11 Connor 30 3-7 0-1 5 2 2 6 Curry 34 7-12 5-7 7 7 2 25 Johnson 22 1-3 3-3 6 0 3 5 Myers 22 5-9 3-7 3 4 2 16 Bass 10-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 Compton 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 DelVescovo 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 Totals 200 30-58 23-35 40 14 18 94 HaKtime: St. Joseph's, 45-42. Three-point Roals: St.

Bonaventure (11-36): Vanterpool 3-8, elson-Richards 2-6, Mance 3-9, Moore 1-4, Quackenbush 1-4. McNeil 1-4, Satalin 0-1. St. Joseph's (1 1-19): Curry 6-9, Domani 3-6, Myers 2-4. Steals: St.

Bonaventure (8): Mance 3, McNeil 2, Vanterpool 2, Moore 1, St. Joseph's (3): Curry 1, Domani 1, Myers 1. Team rebounds: St. Bonaventure 4. St.

Joseph's 4. Turnovers: St. Bonaventure 10. St. Joseph's 12.

Blocked shots: St. Bonaventure (1): Hauff 1. St. Joseph's (2): Johnson 2. Officials: Jack Hannon, Phil Bova and John Bonder.

Attendance: 4,210. men tried to humiliate them going beyond normal means to try to score 100 points in a 99-73 blowout at UMass last month. Asked if his team was fueled by that embarrassment, guard Rap Curry, magnificent with a season-high 25 points against the dangerous Bon-nies (10-17), was diplomatic. "If playing a top-10 team in itself isn't enough for us to get motivated, something's wrong," Curry said. "We'll just come out with all we've got.

We're looking forward to the challenge. This is March." Right now, the Hawks, winners of three straight are getting enough production from Griffin's so-called no-names to make any opponent nervous. Curry, the class senior who has spent most of this season searching for his jump shot, found it in the Palestra, the site of some of his most memorable performances. He kept fighting off the Bonnies with critical three-point shots, nailing 6 of 9 with his best shooting of the season. He also had seven assists and seven rebounds.

"I do like playing here," Curry said. "It's a great place with a lot of great memories for me." Carlin Warley had a workmanlike 16 points and eight rebounds, another day at the office for the A-10's best rebounder. Dmitri Domani, the Championship Thursday at the home court of the highest remaining seeded team The Philadelphia Inquirer Drexel is just two victories away from an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Rose sizzled in the first half, recording IS points and six rebounds. He also played hard against Edwin Harmon, the Huskies' 6-7 sophomore center, for the entire game, taking him inside every time Rose touched the ball.

At times, Harmon got outside help from Deo Djossou, a 6-7 senior, and Damon Singletary, a 6-3 sophomore. Under those circumstances, Rose usually ends up with two offensive fouls before the second half. Instead, Harmon picked up three fouls and went to the bench in the first half. "They were triple-teaming me at times," Rose said. "But I know guys are going to come at me from all kinds of ways.

I think I'm finally getting used to it and know where to go." Rose knew where to go. Jle took Harmon and fellow stragglers into I 2 p.m. p.m. fStBona. "PljjMass.

llmlmSWIiM fi-- mmmmJ 3 '30 p.m. j' 5Duquesne CHAMPION 1 rz 1 p.m. I 3 1 G. Wash, I i 1 C-J 6 1 R-1- 9:30 pm -I 2 Temple 930 p.m. 71 Rutgers 4 St Bonaventure's Garland Mance St.

Joseph's Kevin Connor at the 6-6 freshman from Moscow, continued his white-hot scoring pace with 16, giving him 98 points in the last five games. Domani also survived a senseless, dangerous, deliberate foul by Garland Mance in the final seconds. Domani fell hard, but didn't get hurt, so maybe the Hawks' luck has changed. Another freshman, guard Terrell Myers, had a career-high IS points with four clever assists. The kid has taken some of the ballhandling pressure off Curry.

Sophomore Reggie Townsend chipped in 11 points and, along with Will Johnson, made Bonnies standout Harry Moore work hard for his 20 points. The Bonnies, on the verge of getting blown out several times, kept coming back. But any chance they had of overcoming St. Joe's was lost when Moore, the 6-8 senior from Simon Gratz, fouled out with 4 minutes, 2 seconds remaining and the Bonnies down, 79-70. The baskets that launched the Hawks came from Curry, who hit a baseline jumper and free throw to make it 79-70, and Domani, who drained a three-pointer to fatten the lead to 83-73 with 3:02 to go.

The 94 points was the highest for the lane, and laid the ball off the glass or jammed it so hard that the backboard supports shook. At one point, Rose had ripped off 10 straight points over Harmon as Drexel led, 16-8. The Dragons would eventually lead by as much as 16 points before half-time. "Malik is a horse inside," Drexel coach Bill Herrion said. "We're going to continue to go to him.

People will have their hands full." Rose's biggest basket came with 6 minutes, 10 seconds to play and also saw Harmon pick up his fourth foul and leave the game. Rose then sank a free throw. A 54 percent shooter at the line, Rose nailed 8 of 10 foul shots yesterday. Herrion was encouraged by Rose's play. This was the first time this season Rose didn't commit a foul a good sign if the Dragons are bound for the NCAA tournament.

"I've become more focused this past week," Rose said. "I know I have to step it up, and I know how important it is to our team if we're going to the NCAAs." Drexel also got 15 points each from junior Brian Holden and senior Mike iXiir ilia nil Drexel dumps Northeastern, 81-71, in tournament opener i Malik Rose was superb, finishing with 24 points. Moreover, he had no fouls. N'EASTERN Min FG-A FT-A A FPU Singleton 37 7-14 0-0 2 2 2 15 Djossou 30 4-8 4-6 6 2 6 12 Harmon 22 3-6 0-0 4 0 4 6 Abdullah 36 1-5 0-2 2 10 4 2 Brown 40 12-30 5-5 5 2 4 32 Powell 7 1-1 0-0 0 0 1 2 Barney 25 1-4 0-0 5 1 4 2 Fraser 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 Totals 200 29-67 9-13 24 17 24 71 DREXEL Min FG-A FT-A RAF Pts Rullo 34 2-3 0-0 4 3 3 6 Hudgins 15 1-4 1-3 2 0 1 3 Rose 36 8-13 8-10 9 0 0 24 Alexander 26 1-5 5-6 3 7 2 7 Holden 39 3-6 6-6 0 5 1 15 Wisler 29 5-6 0-0 6 1 3 15 Overby 17 4-5 4-6 0 1 3 12 Williams 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 Totals 200 24-4124-30 24 17 13 81 By Tim Panaccio INQIJIHEH STAFF WKITKH Drexel's Malik Rose showed up at jjthe Physical Education Athletic Cen-tcr yesterday morning with a new outlook on basketball. "I said to myself, 'I won't look at the -refs, I won't say a word, and I won't Jtoake the 6-foot-7 sophomore center said.

"We know how big these games have just become." With that, Rose, who had been in foul trouble in 18 of his last 19 games, I went out against Northeastern and played superbly, scoring 24 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Even more important, he didn't (commit a single foul as the Dragons defeated the Huskies, 81-71, in the opening round of the North Atlantic Conference tournament. 1 Drexel (24), which set a school 1 record for most victories in a season, will host New Hampshire (15-12) at 7 p.m. tomorrow. The Wildcats rjsfeated Delaware, 8M7.

Wisler, and 12 from sophomore Cornelius Overby. Senior Matt Alexander scored just seven points, but five were key points at the end. Down by six points with a little more than three minutes to play, Huskies coach Karl Fogel thought he'd found a way to come back by looking at a statistics sheet. "I told them to foul Alexander," Fogel said. "He's less than 50 percent at the line." That strategy backfired.

Alexander, normally a 43 percent free-throw shooter, hit 3 of 4 crucial free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. The Huskies (5-22) got 32 points from senior Anthony Brown and 12 from Djossou. Brown, a guard, brought the Huskies back from large deficits twice single-handedly but tired at the end. Northeastern did a terrific defensive job on Drexel's perimeter players in the second half, but could not overcome a 46-30 halftime deficit. The first half had ended on an uproarious note when, with three seconds left on the clock, Holden stole the ball a midcourt and sank a one-handed Halftime: Drexel, 46-30.

Three-point goals: Northeastern (4-10): Brown 3-4, Singleton 1-2, Barney 0-1, Abdullah 0-3. Drexel (9-12): Wisler 5-5, Rullo 1-2, Holden 3-5. Steals: Northeastern (7): Abdullah 4, Brown 1, Powell 1, Barney 1. Drexel (8): Rullo 3, Rose 2, Alexander 2, Hoiden 1. Team rebounds: Northeastern 3.

Drexel 1. Turnovers: Northeastern 12. Drexel 18. Blocked shots: Northeastern (1): Djossou. Drexel (1): Rose.

Officials: Stephen Uno, George Watts (fid James Huggard. Attendance: 817..