Birmingham Post-Herald from Birmingham, Alabama • 17

Friday December 6 1 99 1 fl Basketball B4-5 Sports update B6 0 Stock tables B9 Business BIO Birmingham Post-llerald Tide goes up against Deads of talent host each year It is NC turn to play host to the ick will op field and the Wolfpacl open against The Wolfpack is led by senior forward Tom Gugliotta who is averaging 277 points and 103 rebounds per game i ByRayMelkk tat-Hcrald fteoortar TUSCALOOSA Wimp Sanderson has to bp more careful about the promises he makes or four years ago the people from this tournament called me and asked if we'd play and three or four years ago I said yes" Sanderson said now three or four years later it's tune And I don't know if ready" IThe tournament is the Tournament of Champions held in Charlotte NC Either North Carolina or North Carolina State plays "I fuss too much about a 4-0 record but we still need to improve made a lot of progress but we still have these lapses that put us in a hide Like any coach I want us to be better" The pleasant surprise has been the play from the point guard position where Elliott Washington and Dennis Miller share time point guard situation is more stable than I thought it would be" Sanderson said "We only had two turnovers from that poair tion in 40 minutes (against UT-Chattanooga on Tuesday night) Please tin to TIDE page B5 Thunder strikes as Bandits fade Team falls flat after Farmer ejected for fighting with Quad Bowie UNGC guard Henry Williams (an honorable mention All-America last year averaging 216 points) and David Booth who averaged 187 points and 68 rebounds for the Blue Demons last year four teams have a senior considered to be a legitimate NBA prospect" Portland Trail Blazers scout Keith Drum said What it all means is that one good team will come out of this tournament with two And Sanderson hopes it Alabama not playing good a defense or rebounding like we need Sanderson said i IP Quad City ful (court pressure Farmer said were playing well up to thatjttint sorry the whole thing hap- Meanwhile before game the Bandits signed William DeVaughn to fill roster spot Please tars to BANDITS page B4 Alabama at pmCST today The game will be televised by Raycom Sports and can be seen in Birmingham on WTTO-21 North Carolina Charlotte and DePaul play in the first game at 6 pjn CST with the losers of the two games playing at 6 pm to-tow followed by the two winners at 8 pm NC State (3-0) has beaten Florida International Western Carolina and Pittsburgh 0 BariditsTsummar I SCORE: Quad City Thunder 121 Birmingham Bandtts 107 ATTENDANCE: 617 STAR: Quad Barry MRchel had 27 points and eight assists KEY STAT: The Bandits were outscored 61-41 in the second half NOTE: Bandts guard Jkn Fanner was ejected in the third quarter for fighting with Quad City's Anthony Bowls QUOTE: "I'm not a tighter but when I see a guy coming at me I'm not going to be taken advantage of" Farmer said NEXT: 6:35 pm CST today at AfcanyfN-Y) Chet Fussman long as it keeps continuing fine with me first-year Quad City coach Dan Panaggio said Panaggio said Farmer's ejection was a key factor but not necessarily the turning pant if had come back and gotten ourselves out of the doldrums at that Panaggio said a great player but we nad pretty much established the tempo by Barry Mitchell led a balanced Quad City scoring attack with 27 points while Tim Anderson added 20 and Steve Bardo 18 Michael Cutright led the Bandits with 21 Chris Collier Ansley's replacement in the starting lineup scored 17 but had a rough day at the foul line: three-of -seven with two airballs The Bandits showed no signs of missing Ansley early in the game winning the first quarter 35-30 and stretching their advantage to 58-44 midway through the second Farmer led the first half surge with 18 points Quad City roared back late in the second luarter with a 14-4 run closing the pp to The Thunder nabbed the second luarter lead on a Keith Robinson three-point seven seconds before halftime Skeeter Henry however swished a shot quart 64-60 quar shot is an awfully good player" BAjWtery pick sure as good a player find in Sanderson said a (NE the country "But they are a good team all the way around They are a physical game big inside like all the ACC (Atlantic Chast Conference) teams be a challenge" This whole field is an NBA talent delight Besides the 6-foot-9 Gugliotta there is Alabama senior forward Robert Horry Birmingham guard Jim Farmer right beats from the right side at the busier to give the Bandits the second quarter (31-30) and a six-point halftime lead After letting the lead slip away early in the third quarter the Bandits lost Farmer They led only once more after that wanted to play and I wanted to By Chet Fussman Hort-Hwald Reporter Without star player Michael player ham Bandits played the undefeated Quad (Sty Thunder evenly for nearly three quarters But asking the Bandits to win without their two leading scorers was asking too much 1 The Bandits who lost Ansley to the NBA earlier this week lost guard Jim Fanner midway through the third quarter when he was ejected after a brief round of fisticuffs with Quad Anthony Bowie The Bandits never recovered as Quad City rallied to its 12th victory without a loss this season 121-107 Birmingham led by as many as 14 in the first half and trailed 72-70 with 8:12 remaining in the third quarter when Farmer wfaile attemptinga jump shot was fouled hard fay Bowie The two exchanged words and were separated but not before Farmer struck Bowie The referees after quickly moving to restore order called matching technical fouls ejected Farmer but allowed Bowie to remain in the game jI agree Farmer should have been ejected" said Bandits coach Morris McHone who argued his point with the officials at midcourt Bowie should have gone too" Farmer said afterward that while being restrained by another Quad dity player he saw Bowie move toward him with nis fist raised Farmer then delivered the first blow the protect myself not a fighter but when I see a guy coming at me I'm not going to be taken advantage of" The Bandits (6-6) fell flat after ejection as Quad City outscored Birmingham 48-36 the remainder of the game and 61-41 in the second half "When Jim left that broke us" McHone said "We were awful the rest of the The Thunder won the third quarters and picked up five of seven points More importantly they extended their perfect record to 12-0 he game" andfourth ren points their per- UAB gets serious for SWAC i-t By Cary Estes Port-Horrid Reporter Since the Great Midwest Conference does not have an automatic bid to the NCAA 1 Tournament this season maybe the UAB Blazers can get in as the Southwestern Atb-' letic Conference champion instead UAB plays five of the eight teams in the SWAC this season including two teams this weekend in the UAB Classic The Blazers take an SWAC member Jack- son State at 7:05 pm today at UAB Arena with Alabama State and Northwestern (La) ThrotomotTow ABwUlpiay Alabama I State also id the SWAC at aj 4:15 pm Jackson State and will meet at 2 pm The Blazers already have defeated SWAC teams Mississippi Valley State (03-62) and -Prairie View AAM (110-49) And in January? they will play Southern as welL jt' But Bartow doubts the honorary-champi- onship ploy will work i "I think let us do that since we go on the road to play any of said with a smile the thing with the Sun Belt folded our schedule opened up some We decided to pay some teams to come here this seastxf rather than go home-and-home with them? And most of (the SWAC teams) are fairly dose so it just worked out that -j But Bartow is not taking either team-1 lightly He remembers all too well how Ala bama State came into UAB Arena three? years ago and nearly pulled off an upset The Hornets led by 12 points with four min-i utes remaining before the Blazers battled back and won 87-85 Even more recently Bartow recalls the disaster that occurred last year when Mon-- mouth came to Birmingham and slowed the Blazers into a stupor shocking UAB 62-60 was just about a year ago that mighty Monmouth came in here and took us to our Bartow said never know what might happen in college basketball unless Duke or somebody like that v- using that sure talked 1 about Monmouth mis week All these games are important and the players know Of course losing their opener to Duquesne and trailing Idaho State at halftime of their second game might have something to do with the lack of complacency Please tun to UAB page B5 place at 7:30 pm today at Sam- Seibert Gymnasium Dave Wottle the 1972 Olympic gold medal winner in the 800-meter1 run and Brian Abshire a former Auburn All-America and the 1988 Olympic trials steeplechase champion are the featured speakers race schedule bantam girls 9:30 am bantam boys 10 am midget girls 10:30 ahL' midget boys 11 am junior girls 11:30 am junior boys noon intermediate girls 12:30 pm intermedk ate boys 1 pm senior girls 1:30 pm" and senior boys 2 pm many people believed brief but storied history with golf tournaments might have ended with the controversial 'I 1990 PGA Championship But as a result of a great deal of hard work by the people at Greystone and the Bruno family an event is coming to town that should be enjoyed by thousands of people The rise in popularity of the Senior PG A Tour has been breathtaking Given the choice of Birmingham playing host to a i-J ffllar PGA Tour event or a senior event I moat people would pick the latter The prospects of going to watch such as Arnold Palmer Lee Trevino Player and Chi Chi Rodriguez is far more enticing than watching players such as Hnri Simpson and Wayne Levi battle Andrew 5T Magee on the final day In the past few years the Senior PGA Tour has caught the fancy of the nation -C! bored with watching the no-name flatbelli? on the regular Mur Please tan to FINEBAUM page B3 HI Junior runners descend on Birmingham for meet New York is bringing the largest contingent of runners with 80 children The children are traveling in two groups to get them to Birmingham in time Twenty-five children have traveled from Guam to compete in this meet Two days before leaving a typhoon with winds in excess of 180 mph ravaged the island and most of the team members did not have electricity or running water in their homes before they left Two and two teams compete in age divisions 9-10 and 11-12 bama is Sam Barall from Auburn High School Barall won the 1990 and 91 Class 6A cross country championships His 91 title came last month at the Magic City Running Park Registration for the meet began yesterday at Crown Sterling Suites Runners also can register mere today from 11 am to 4:30 pm and 9 to 10:30 pm Runners will be allowed to walk the course starting at 3 pm today Opening ceremonies will take fa and led their team the Trailblazers to a first-place finish One of the strongest contingents competing is the Tri-County 'nick Club from near Philadelphia It will have runners competing in four age divisions The club won the Mid-Atlantic Amateur Athletic Union Association meets in the 11-12 and 13-14 age divisions and came in second at this association level in the 15-16 age division while winning the individual title in 13-14 One of the top runners from Ala To prepare for the meet the Guam team arrived Nov 29 in Birmingham The team had to get used to the lower temperatures The average temperature on the island is BSdegroes Greg Sarenpa 12 one of the runners from Guam will see his grandparents for the first time in nine Srs They are traveling from th Dakota to see him compete Also competing are sisters Elizabeth 15 and Melissa 14 Piunti of Gary bid They are competing for the third consecutive year In 1990 they placed first and fourth respec- By Rubio Grant Fort-Herald Reporter The 1991 AAUCarrier Youth Cross Cquntry National Championship will be held tomorrow at the Magic City Running Park and boys will compete in five divisions: bantam (ages 10 and under) midget (ages 11-12) junior (ages 13-14) intermediate (ages 15-16) and senior (ages 17-18) This is the second time the event has been held in Birmingham The first was in 1987 Hudson Valley Running Cub from Which is best: Greystone or Shoal? Does it matter? Senior PGA Tour event a feather for Greystone and on standing as But during the past few and especially the past few days our community has received a couple of important bits of news that should go a long way in continuing our improving image as a spirts town Last spring the city celebrated the awarding of the Southeastern Conference championship football game And this week the beat continued with Wednesday's news of the 1995 NCAA Southeast Regional coming to Birmingham and official announcement of the $700000 Senior Golf Classic Yesterday's aimouncejnent was particularly important considering that At $700000 the purse is believed to be the fifth hitfiest of the 42 Senior PGA Tour events scheduled for the 1992 season the local grocery store chain that has grown to 250 stores six states has committed to be the sponsor for at least the not three years Perhaps the only down note of the event is the timing next year to be held opposite the PGA Championship at Bellerieve in SL Louis That means Jack Nlcklaus Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer the three biggest names on the Senior PGA Tour might not participate in Birmingham However officials said Trevino and Palmer still are possibilities considering their limited play on the regular tour It would have been highly unlikely that Nicklaus would have appeared anyway since he plays a limited senior schedule and other than major events on the Senior PGA Tour he seldom plays at a course he did not design Please tun to GOLF page B3 By Paul Finebaum Ftaflt-Hcrald Rmorter Perhaps the worst-kept secret in town finally was confirmed yesterday with the official announcement that a Senior PGA Tour event is coming in August to the Birmingham area The $700000 Classic will bp played August 10-16 at the recently opened Greystone Golf Club i The 54-hole event the norm for most senior events will be preceded by two pro-am events Tournament officials estimate at least $100000 will be directed toward charity extremely pleased to be able to bring great golfers to a great course and benefit some outstanding local said Ronald Bruno president and chid exceptive of ficer of Inc "Interest in golf has ben Senior Tour fond the I plq of the best golf ft will bring credit to both our city andour Keith BojrwFort-Herald Green helped design Hubert Greystone Golf Chib 4.