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WEST GEORGIAN
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WEST GEORGIA C ROSS COUNTRY COACH
Rill Webb (left) accepts the South Atlantic Con
ference championship trophy from SAC’ Com
Basketball
Veterans Slip By Recruits
Dave Edmonds’s pair of
clutch free throws with 13
seconds left lifted the Veterans
to a 73-72 win over the Recruits
in Tuesday night’s Red and Blue
Intrasquad Game played
before nearly 800 fans, the
largest crowd ever to view the
annual public scrimmage.
The senior All-American
guard candidate and the lone
returning starter from last
season's national championship
team added 19 other points to
lead the Veteran attack with 21.
Sam Christian, the big 6-8
center, also tallied 21 to pace
the Recruits.
The Veterans had a sluggish
start by going into the first two
and one-half minutes of the
game without scoring. Tony
Stroud’s pair of buckets from
long range and one each by
Jesse Fields and Jeff LaCava
gave the Recruits a quick 8-0
lead.
However, under the
leadership of Edmonds, the
Vets settled down and made a
game of it. With Sam
Christian’s eight points on
powering layups leading the
Recruits and Alan Gustavel’s 12
points topping the Veterans, the
halftime score stood at 37-36,
Recruits.
During the second half the
Vets built an eight-point lead
with six minutes remaining, but
were unable to hold it as Stroud
began hitting again from the
outside and Christian started
putting points on the board from
inside.
With 4:37 showing, the
Veterans had another big lead
65-55 on the strength of
Edmonds’s and Floyd
missioner J. B. Scearce. Saturday’s victory on
the WGC course was West Georgia’s second
consecutive conference cross country title.
Phoenix’s scoring.
However, the Recruits
started cutting the lead again
until the score read 71-67 with 37
seconds left. During a Vet
timeout while coach Jerry
Reyonolds was instructing his
players to go to a spread offense
and run out the clock, the
scorekeeper found four points
that he had failed to tally in the
Recruits’s team score. It
suddenly had become a tie
game, 71-71, much to the shock
of Reynolds.
The Vets ran a portion of the
clock, but Magley’s shot missed
and Christian rebounded to give
the Recruits a final play.
Tyrone Gates missed two
shots under the basket in heavy
traffic, but a foul was called and
Christian went to the line for the
one-and-one. His first free
throw gave the Recruits the
lead 72-71, but his second failed
to go in. During the insuing
scramble for the ball, Edmonds
was fouled, and with four
seconds left the Braves team
captain calmly connected on
both ends of the bonus to give
the Veterans the 73-72 win.
“I thought it was a pretty
good game,” Braves head
coach Roger Kaiser, who
viewed the scrimmage from the
stands, said.
“I’m a little more optimistic
about our chances this season
now, after seeing the players in
simulated game conditions.
They showed more hustle and
determination than has been
evidenced in regular practice
scrimmages. It was especially
good to see this spark in a few of
the players in particular.”
Assistant Coach Jerry
Bob Foley
Editor
Reynolds, who directed the
Veteran “team against the
Recruits, who were coached by
Joey Godwin, was “extremely
pleased” with the play of Dave
Edmonds and Tony Stroud, the
Braves’ starting guards when
the season begins in two weeks.
“I also liked the play of Jesse
Fields at guard, Alan
Gustavel’s scoring and
aggressiveness, Tim
Reynolds’s improved play, and
of course, the jumping and
rebounding of Alexander
Mitchell.”
Both coaches cited the play of
Sam Christian who played well
in spots, but did not have a
complete game, even with 21
points.
“That scoring figure and his
rebounding should show you
what Sam can do when he puts it
all together,” Reynolds said.
Veteran Pat Magley, who was
not personally satisfied with his
play and 13 points, still drew
praise from the coaches.
“Pat had one tough customer
in Mitchell guarding him and he
may not run up a better
defender in regular season,”
Kaiser said, “but Pat handled
himself well on the court and
did his best.”
West Georgia’s season opener
is two weeks away on Friday
night, Nov. 29, against
national power University of
Maryland Eastern Shore, a
team that made it to the
quarterfinals of last season’s
NIT at Madison Square Garden.
The contest will be part of a two
day tournament in Erie, Pa.
The Braves first home game
will be Dec. 4 with North
Georgia College.
Cross Country Braves
Claim Second SAC Title
After dominating the Georgia
Intercollegiate Athletic Con
ference with a championship
string from 1965 to 1971, West
(Georgia College's cross country
program appears headed
toward a commanding role in a
new league, the South Atlantic
Conference, as the Braves
runners claimed their second
consecutive SAC title this past
Saturday.
Competing against Arm
strong State, Valdosta State,
Augusta College, Columbus
College, and Southern Tech, Bill
Webb's squad made the 1974
conference meet “no contest”
by outdistancing second place
Cjlumbus by 36 points. West
Georgia placed six runners
among the top 10 finishers,
including junior Jim Gaines's
top time of 26:26 on West
Georgia College’s five-mile
course.
While West Georgia and
Columbus took first and second
place honors with 20 and 56
Soccer Club Victorious
Over Columbus,3-2
BY MIKE PENDLETON
John Carney scored a goal
with ten minutes left in Sun
day's on campus game to give
West Georgia a 3 to 2 soccer
victory over Columbus. The
victory snapped the Brave’s
three game losing streak and
evened their record at three
wins and three losses.
Fort Benning will now invade
West Georgia Sunday as the
Braves will try for their fourth
victory.
The Braves almost didn’t
play, however, as Columbus
was over an hour late for the
game. Anticipating a forfeit, the
Braves started an intrasquad
game and had been playing
about a half-hour when the
Cougars finally did show.
Golf Team Wins Tourney
Takes Armstrong By One
BY NOLAN CRISP
The Golf team ended its
season on a winning note Nov. 3
as players took first place in a
four team tourney involving
Georgia State, Armstrong State,
and West Georgia’s “A” and
“B” teams.
The A team took the tourney
by one stroke over Armstrong
State, with a 54 hole total of 976.
The B team was third, with
Georgia State rounding out the
rest of the field. Gary Soldidas,
playing as an individual from
Valdosta State, took the
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The recruits drive for two points but it wasn’t enough as the vets
downed the recruits 73-72 in the Red and Blue game.
points, respectively. Armstrong
State finished third with 74,
Southern Tech fourth with 99.
Valdosta State fifth with 115,
and Augusta College sixth with
157.
Close behind WGC veteran
Gaines was second place
finisher Greg Smith of West
Georgia with a time of 26:51.
Other Braves placing in the top
ten included Mel Pinson, fourth,
27:26; Pat Childs, sixth, 28:02;
Mike Hooker, seventh, 28:11;
and Trip Finney, eighth, 28:57.
A total of 37 runners com
peted in the race.
“I was very pleased with our
performance,” cross country
coach Bill Webb said,
“hopefully, we can put together
a long string of championship
trophies in the SAC.”
Webb, who is in his second
year as head of the Brave’s
cross country and track
programs, was named Con
ference Coach of the Year. He
received the same honor in 1973.
The first half was a defensive
battle as neither team looked
like it wanted to score.
Columbus finally did and took a
1 to 0 lead into halftime.
West Georgia exploded for
two quick goals in the second
half to take the lead. The first
goal was scored by Trippy
Lovett and the next by Bruce
Fechnay.
Columbus tied the game on a
penalty kick and this set the
stage for Carney’s winning
goal.
Lawrence Lyle played an
exceptional game in his first
start at goal while the defense of
Mike Bom, Jerry Holt, and
Spike Austin did a fine job at
halting the Cougars’ offensive
line.
medalist honors with a 233
score. Tony Farmer, Norm
Patterson, Ronnie Pritchett,
and Randy Almond followed
Soldidas in the individual
scores.
Coach Skip Yow said that the
team would resume practice in
the fall. He said that “the South
Atlantic Conference would be
tough this year, with Columbus
and Valdosta State being the
toughest.” Should West
Georgia win the conference,
they would probably be invited
to the regionals held in New
York.