College Basketball Roundup : Michigan Squeaks Past Virginia Tech, 67-66

Reserve forward Robert Henderson scored on a layup with 20 seconds left Friday night to give highly-ranked Michigan a 67-66 victory over Virginia Tech in the opening game of the Silversword Invitational basketball tournament at Wailuku, Hawaii.

With Michigan trailing, 66-65, Henderson rebounded a missed free-throw attempt by teammate Butch Wade and sank the winning basket.

Guard Gary Grant then blocked a jumper by Virginia Tech’s Dell Curry to secure the win. Curry scored 28 of his 38 points in the first half as Virginia Tech moved to a 40-33 lead. Michigan was ranked first by United Press International and third by Associated Press in preseason polls.

St. John’s 67, Navy 58--Walter Berry scored 20 points, and Ron Rowan added 19 as the Redmen overcame an outstanding performance by Dave Robinson and defeated Navy, 67-58, in the first round of the Big Apple NIT tournament at Hartford, Conn.

Rowan, a backup last year to All-American Chris Mullin, scored 11 straight points while leading the Redmen from a 51-49 deficit to a 60-53 lead with 2:18 remaining in the game. Berry scored 12 second-half points.

The Midshipmen led by as many as eight points in the first half behind a 19-point effort by the 6-11 Robinson, who finished with 27 points and 18 rebounds.

Rowan’s outside shooting nullified the Middies’ zone, which had given the Redmen trouble in the first half.

West Virginia 75, Auburn 58--In the second game at Hartford, Conn., Dale Blaney scored 23 points to lead the Mountaineers to victory.

West Virginia, despite the loss of five players due a university-imposed disciplinary suspension, never trailed. The Mountaineers limited high-scoring Auburn forward Chuck Person to just 8 points, the first time in 68 games the 6-8 senior has been held below 10 points.

Auburn scored the first six points of the second half to pull within two, but Blaney scored six of the next eight West Virginia points for a 47-38 Mountaineer lead with 10:35 remaining.

Auburn was led by Frank Ford with 21 points. Jeff Moore had 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

Person, who averaged 22 points last season, said: “I was off. It was the worst game I’ve played since the fifth or sixth grade.”

West Virginia and St. John’s will meet Sunday in the regional NIT final.

Other NIT games included:

Louisville 81, Miami (Ohio) 65--Billy Thompson led the Cardinals with 19 points at Cincinnati. Miami’s Ron Harper led all scorers with 36 points despite playing 17 minutes of the second half with four fouls.

Other games included:

Kentucky 77, Northwestern (La.) St. 58--Winston Bennett scored 18 points for the Wildcats, making their first start under new coach Eddie Sutton, at Lexington, Ky. Kenny Walker had 13 points for Kentucky in the first half, then sat out most of the second half with apparent leg cramps.

Weber State 101, Western Oregon State 50--Weber State, in its first game under new Coach Larry Farmer, shot 66% in outclassing Western Oregon, an NAIA team, at Ogden, Utah. Western Oregon shot only 20% and was outrebounded, 50-23. Darryle McDaniel led the winners with 15 points.

Notre Dame 79, St. Joseph’s (Ind.) 49--David Rivers scored 20 points, and Ken Barlow added 14 for the Irish who blew the game open with a 17-1 run late in the first half at South Bend, Ind.