USC Rebounds From Loss to Defeat Richmond : Dowell and Munk Help Carry the Trojans to 63-51 Victory Over the Spiders

RICHMOND, Va. — “That’s just the way it’s going to be with young teams,” USC Coach George Raveling was saying.

“Some nights, they take you to the mountaintop; some nights, they take you down to the valley.”

Last Friday, the Trojans began a season-opening, 11-day, four-game trip by taking their new coach to the valley in an 85-67 loss to New Orleans.

On Tuesday night, however, the Trojans, led by 31 points and 17 rebounds from All-Pacific 10 forward Derrick Dowell and 8 points and 6 rebounds in 18 minutes from highly touted freshman Chris Munk, took Raveling to the mountaintop with a 63-51 win over Richmond before 6,940 at the Robins Center.

“I’m just glad we could get a win on this trip,” Raveling said. “Opening up the season with four games in a row on the road and being on the road for 11 days is like being in the NBA. It isn’t my idea of fun.

“This was the pivotal game for us. I would have hated to go down to Bowling Green, Ky., 0 and 2.”

Had it not been for consecutive baskets by the 6-6, 210-pound Dowell and a three-point play by the 6-9, 235-pound Munk after Richmond had rallied from a 10-point deficit to trail by just 49-47 with three minutes to play, that’s exactly how USC would have been starting the Wendy’s tournament Friday against 14th-ranked Western Kentucky.

Richmond (2-1) was coming off a 67-62 victory Saturday here over sixth-ranked Georgia Tech in the final of the Central Fidelity Tournament. The victory was the Spiders’ 36th in their last 43 home games and seemed to be an indication that they had overcome the graduation of all-time leading scorer Johnny Newman, who is now playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

As usual, Raveling had his own theory.

“So much of athletics today is psychological,” he said. “And I thought that tonight the psychological edge was definitely with us. They were coming off a big win and they really didn’t have enough time to get off that high. You know, they’ve been going around town, everybody telling them what a great win it was against Georgia Tech and how great they are. They’re still looking back on Georgia Tech and not looking toward us, particularly when we came off a disappointing loss to New Orleans.”

Raveling said the superiority of USC’s front line players made a significant difference.

“I thought we wore their big guys down at the end,” he said. “During the last few minutes, they (the Spiders) just weren’t jumping as high as they were earlier.”

USC’s front line of Dowell, Munk, Bob Erbst and Rod Keller combined for 33 rebounds, 51 points and 6 blocked shots. By comparison, Richmond’s front line combined for 26 rebounds, 32 points and no blocks.

It took the Trojans awhile to get going, however. With the score tied at 8-8, the Trojans missed four shots on three possessions and then turned the ball over twice, allowing the Spiders to run off 10 straight points and take their biggest lead of the game at 18-8 with 11:09 left in the half.

USC cut the margin to five before junior guard Rodney Rice, who led Richmond with 17 points, hit a three-point basket that made the score 25-17 with 6:18 left in the half. But after Mike Winiecki followed Brad Winslow’s three-pointer with a tip-in over Munk with 4:32 left, the Spiders went into the deep freeze. Their next field goal did not come until 9:32 had elapsed in the second half.

During Richmond’s 14-plus minutes without a basket, the Trojans outscored the Spiders, 18-3, taking a 38-30 lead that USC quickly bumped up to 42-32 with 9:34 remaining in the game. Dowell scored 13 points during the stretch and Munk chipped in with five more.

For Dowell, who moved into 10th place on the Trojans’ all-time rebounding list, it was just another night at the gym. But for Munk, it was a breakthrough after a scoreless game at New Orleans and an unceremonious first-half benching that came after he had been on the floor exactly 54 seconds.

“I think I was trying too hard down at New Orleans,” said Munk, who was so relaxed early that he failed to box out on defense and allowed an easy tip-in basket. “This time I wanted to keep calm but without giving up any intensity.”

Added Dowell: “I just decided that it was time for all of the talking to stop and for some action to start.” Dowell scored eight of USC’s final 10 points of the first half and its first three points of the second half.