College Basketball Roundup : Dawkins Leads Duke’s Victorious Rally

Johnny Dawkins scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half to rally sixth-ranked Duke to a 66-54 victory over Alabama Birmingham Sunday night at Houston in a second round game of the NIT Big Apple tournament.

The Blue Devils advance to the semifinals Friday in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Duke trailed, 31-29, at the half and fell behind, 44-38, with 14 minutes to go in the game before Dawkins, who hit only two of eight first-half shots, started hitting.

A basket by Dawkins at 8:43 tied it, 47-47, and Billy King followed with a basket and free throw for a 50-47 advantage with 8:07 left. Duke pulled away in the closing minutes.

St. John’s 65, West Virginia 58--Walter Berry scored 8 of his 18 points during a 16-1 game-opening spree and the Redmen withstood a late rally to defeat the Mountaineers at Hartford, Conn., and advance to the semifinals of the Big Apple NIT.

West Virginia, which upset 19th-ranked Navy in its opening game, was led by Dale Blaney as it stormed back to close within five points with a minute left in the game.

But Shelton Jones blocked a shot by West Virginia guard Renaldo Brown and forward Willie Glass took the ball the length of the court and dunked with 30 seconds left to seal the game.

Villanova 101, Vermont 61--Harold Jensen made all 10 shots from the field and scored 24 points to lead the defending national champion Wildcats to an opening victory at Villanova, Pa.

Jensen scored 18 points in the first half as Villanova built up a 50-33 lead.

Harold Pressley added 14 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for Villanova.

Iowa 85, Hawaii Pacific 68--Andre Banks scored 19 points to lead the Hawkeyes to an opening victory at Honolulu.

Gerry Wright added 15 points and Jeff Moe 14 for Iowa.

Georgetown 100, Hawaii Loa 51--David Wingate scored 18 points and Reggie Williams added 12 to lead the eighth-ranked Hoyas to an opening game victory at Honolulu.

Horace Broadnax and Jonathan Edwards each added 10 points for Georgetown. Robert Cundiff scored 12 points for the Mongoose.

Michigan 80, Kansas State 58--Roy Tarpley scored 21 points as the third-ranked Wolverines shook off a sluggish start to overwhelm the Wildcats for the championship of the Silversword Invitational at Wailuku, Hawaii.

Richard Relford added 14 points for Michigan, Antoine Joubert scored 13, and Gary Grant had 12.