Nic Men Face Tall Task At Nationals Top Scorer Will Be Hampered By Twisted Knee

North Idaho College men’s basketball coach Hugh Watson thought the wrong videotape had arrived in the mail.

“It said Oral Roberts on the side,” Watson said. “I thought that meant Oral Roberts University, until I looked at their roster.”

Oral Roberts is the starting center for Bossier Parish, NIC’s first-round assignment today at 11:45 a.m. PST at the NJCAA Tournament. Roberts, a 6-foot-7, 245-pound space-eater averaging 18 points and 7.7 rebounds, is being recruited by Mississippi State, USC, Iowa State and Tulane, among others.

He is the southern equivalent of NIC’s regional rival K’Zell Wesson, from College of Eastern Utah.

“The first thing on the tape is Oral Roberts two-handed dunking,” Watson said.

Roberts’ sidekick is Michael Smith, a 6-8 stringbean who plays anywhere from shooting guard to power forward. He’s in the mold of CEU’s Harold Arceneaux, only slightly taller.

NIC hopes it can duplicate the success it had defending CEU in a 19-point win nine days ago when it meets up against the Louisiana-based Cavaliers (25-8), champions of Region 23, in today’s tournament opener.

NIC (28-4) captured Region 18 with the win over CEU, but the Cardinals suffered some ill fortune during practice Tuesday when leading scorer Shawn Myrick twisted his knee.

“He’s limping around,” Watson said. “I think he’ll play. They’ve been working on him all day.”

Once again, the Cards will rely on their pressure defense to offset a height disadvantage.

“Our thing is to make the other team start its offense two steps farther out than they want to,” assistant coach Mark White said. “If they catch the ball on the wing, the two steps makes it that much longer of a pass to get it inside.”

Northeast Mississippi, coached by Mike Lewis, lost to Bossier Parish in its regional tourney. Lewis described Roberts and Smith as difficult to defend.

“Roberts really does a job inside. Smith can hit from downtown or go inside and jam it on you,” Lewis said. “They can get up and down the floor. But if you rebound or score, they prefer to set it up and get it to the big guys.”

Bossier Parish coach Mike McConathy’s main concern is NIC’s quickness. The Cards’ offensive strategy is the same versus man or zone - drive and dish.

“That type of team concerns me,” McConathy said. The Cavaliers had trouble containing similar teams when it got off to a 6-7 start, playing athletic Texas clubs. However, Bossier did defeat second-ranked San Jacinto (33-0), but had to forfeit because it used an ineligible player, believed to be Smith.

Bossier has won 19 of its last 20. The prime reason: Smith became eligible in January.

“He’ll shoot it from way out,” McConathy said. “He has ‘No, No, No, !’ range.”

Roberts will be guarded by NIC’s Chris Harrison, 6-4 and 235. Defensive specialist Andre McKanstry, at 6 feet, probably will go against the 6-8 Smith.

The matchup problems go both ways. NIC is shorter, but should be swifter.

“We’re going to make their big guys guard us, and we want to make their big guys run back in transition defense,” White said. “They can flat-out score, but they don’t want to guard.”

McConathy expects a game in the 90s, “unless we’re able to just hammer it inside,” he said. The teams’ stats are nearly identical, though Bossier does have better shooting percentages.

Point guard Kenny Haynes has been a key reason why pressure defenses haven’t bothered Bossier. He averages under two turnovers per game.

“We did a pretty good job on them on the perimeter,” Northeast Mississippi’s Lewis said. “We controlled the tempo pretty well. We just didn’t have the muscle inside. The big kid (Roberts), in certain games, doesn’t play as physical as he could.”

First-round scores

Tallahassee, Fla. 97, Savannah Tech, Ga. 82 Vincennes, Ind. 70, Mesa, Ariz. 64 Western Nebraska 62, Southern Union Valley, Ala. 56 Indian Hills, Iowa 98, Odessa, Texas 87 Connors St., Okla. 96, Wabash Valley, Ill. 78 San Jacinto, Texas 60, Hutchinson, Kan. 53

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: ON THE AIR KVNI (AM 1080) will broadcast NIC-Bossier Parish at 11:30 a.m. PST