Foul Trouble

Hammond showed that it is a team with considerable depth yesterday by rallying to defeat Catonsville, 73-68, in the consolation bracket of the Wes Unseld Tournament at Catonsville Community College.The Bears (5-2) didn't fold when 6-foot-6 center Phil Mackey got into foul trouble.Mackey (16 points, eight rebounds), double-teamed and sometimes triple-teamed, was held scoreless in the second half and fouled out with 4:28 to play.But guard Mike Bright sparked the Bears with a career-high 17 points -- 15 of those in the second half.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The question wasn't really if Coppin State would beat Bethune-Cookman last night; it was by how much.The answer came in a 110-83 victory in which Coppin State scored a season high and clinched a tie for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship.Coppin improved to 16-8 overall and 12-1 in the MEAC with its 12th consecutive victory, holding a three-game lead over second-place North Carolina A&T and South Carolina State. Bethune-Cookman (4-20, 3-10) dropped its eighth straight.

Centennial's Damian Biggs had a half of a lifetime, but Hammond freshman Irving Conwell came through at crunch time in a 67-66 Howard County league victory over Centennial yesterday.Biggs and his teammates came out fired up for the second half, and Biggs (38 points) excited the crowd with a 36-point second-half performance that included six three-point baskets. Centennial made nine three-pointers in that half.But Conwell scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, when most of his team's key players were in foul trouble.

Catonsville held No. 19 Lansdowne to five baskets in the second half, and Amy Kuehnl scored 15 points to help the host Comets stop the Vikings' eight-game winning streak with a 51-47 victory in a Baltimore County 4A-3A girls basketball game last night.Catonsville (8-2 overall and league), which won its fifth straight, trailed by as many as 12 points in the first half, but a combination of intense defense and foul trouble wore down Lansdowne (10-2, 8-2)."I just told them that we were better conditioned," Catonsville coach Dennis Quinby said.

With one starter injured, No. 2 Hammond really needed to stay out of foul trouble last night against No. 20 Wilde Lake.Either that or hope the Wildecats got into bigger foul trouble.The Golden Bears (6-1) took the latter route and beat the host Wildecats, 72-34, in the Howard County league opener for both teams.The Bears have struggled with foul trouble in their last three games. Last night four starters had at least two fouls by halftime. Forward Kellye Townsend had three.However, Wilde Lake (4-4)

Chris Rueckert, who has stepped up his play in recent weeks, had the kind of game many had been predicting of him for some time, as he led C. Milton Wright to an 82-58 Harford County League victory over visiting Fallston (7-4, 1-2) last night.Rueckert, a 6-foot-7 senior, had 31 points, 16 rebounds and 11 blocked shots in helping the Mustangs boost their records to 5-4, 2-1, while running their winning streak to four. The point total was the team's highest of the season.It was the sort of game that develops when one team has a Rueckert dominating play at both ends, and the other has trouble making shots or rebounding.

COLLEGE PARK -- There were at least two reasons for Maryland to struggle last night against Wake Forest, and they had to do with starting forwards who were on the bench with more than 15 minutes to play - one because of a one-game suspension, the other because of foul trouble. Factor in that the No. 23-ranked Terps were trying to rebound from back-to-back conference road losses, and the challenge seemed even greater. This time, they handled it. Virginia Tech@No. 23 Maryland Saturday, 8 p.m., Ch. 54, 1300 AM, 105.7 FM

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Dunbar High pushed its win streak to 32 games despite some foul trouble and sporadic play by pulling away from Male High of Louisville, 90-70, in a quarterfinal game of the Beach Ball Classic last night at Socastee High.Senior guard Michael Lloyd had 23 points, six rebounds and five assists and senior center Donta Bright had 21 points and 13 rebounds, but it was junior forward Keith Booth who sparked the Poets. Booth had 19 points, four assists and seven rebounds.Junior center Alexander Mobley came off the bench to score 10 points and grab nine rebounds to help the Poets take a 47-39 advantage on the boards.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Duke ended a five-year losing streak at North Carolina State as Grant Hill continue to shine in place of Bobby Hurley, leading the top-ranked Blue Devils to a 71-63 Atlantic Coast Conference victory yesterday.Hill scored 20 points and played 40 minutes for the third straight game since being moved to point guard after Hurley broke a foot. Hill, 6 feet 8, scored mostly on driving layups and from the free-throw line in the closing minutes."Bobby, when are you coming back?" Hill asked.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Pacers had a number of factors in their favor last night: a healthy roster, a hot team, a sellout crowd and the motivation of being able to clinch a playoff berth.The Washington Bullets had Pervis Ellison.He wasn't enough.With a 117-103 victory at Market Square Arena, the Pacers (37-37) secured their second consecutive playoff berth for the first time in franchise history and, in the process, officially eliminated the Bullets.Indiana, 18-10 since the All-Star break, seized control of the tempo behind Reggie Miller's 17-point third quarter and the Bullets (27-47)