Even as Virginia Union was finishing an impressive win last night, Dave Robbins continued to teach, chastise and console. He never let up during his 40-minute march into the NCAA history book.
Finally, with 5 minutes remaining and the Panthers up by 27 points, Robbins allowed himself to relax. He exhaled at the buzzer when the Panthers delivered his 700th victory.
Robbins, in his 30th season at Virginia Union, appeared tight and nervous moments before the Panthers began their 100-73 rout of Saint Paul's in a packed Barco-Stevens Hall.
Amid the postgame ceremony, the usually stoic Robbins held firm to his game face before conceding a reluctant smile. Robbins, who has led the Panthers to three NCAA Division II national championships, seemed almost embarrassed by the attention.
"It's an honor to be recognized, but as far as 700 wins, it's the same as the first win we ever had," said Robbins, whose first collegiate victory came in 1978 against Washington (Md.) College.
Robbins became only the fifth coach in Division II history to reach the 700-win plateau. Also, he is third all-time among Division II active coaches.
Robbins tried but couldn't avoid choking up some when Terry Davis, a former Virginia Union All-American, delivered a tearful message of appreciation from the Panthers' alumni -- including Charles Oakley and Ben Wallace.
But the celebration hardly had finished before Robbins was thinking X's and O's for Tuesday's game.
"I'm not trying to play it [700 wins] down," Robbins said. "Right now, I'm worried about Tuesday's game. My first season, I was hoping to get through without being fired.
"It's nice to win 700 games, but winning the game and the CIAA [title] is what we're about. It's not about me. It's about these young men and the university. I'm just riding along, and enjoying it.
"I really didn't want any fanfare. After 30 years, you're going to win a few games. We've been lucky to have some good kids."
Brad Byerson and LaKeith Blanks were better than good. Byerson scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Blanks added 20 points and 13 rebounds.
"We know we don't do what you want us to all the time, but that's part of being a coach," Byerson told Robbins during the ceremony.
The Panthers, stuffing the paint as if it were a Thanksgiving turkey, allowed the Tigers to carve them up with long-range jumpers early in the game. They couldn't step out quickly enough to challenge Saint Paul's freshman guard Adrian Moffatt (13 points).
It's exactly what Robbins didn't want the Panthers to do.
Moffatt, slipping behind baseline picks, buried three straight treys to give Saint Paul's an early 16-12 lead. Finally, Robbins leaped from the bench to scold the Panthers, demanding them to show a little fight.
It was all the challenge Union needed.
The Panthers stayed in Moffatt's face, forcing him to relinquish the ball for the rest of the first half. Still, the Tigers refused to relent from their outside game -- a flawed strategy that blew up in their faces.
The Panthers, rallying behind the inspired play of Blanks and Tim Young, turned up the heat on both ends of the floor. They rarely surrendered an uncontested shot in a 16-0 run in which VUU turned a three-point deficit into a 13-point lead.
"Saint Paul's started out like a ball of fire," Robbins said. "We changed defenses, and the kids did a good job."
Center Gregg Thondique gathered in a perfect lob pass from Byerson, then banked in a layup to ignite the scoring binge. Blanks and Young, ripping down a combined six offensive rebounds, scored nine of 11 points as VUU led 27-17.
The Panthers pushed their lead to 53-31 with 1:39 left in the opening half. But VUU's defense eased up enough to allow Saint Paul's to score eight straight points and cut the lead to 53-39.
The Tigers flirted with a comeback early in the second half. Bruce Royal scored nine straight to trim the Union lead to 60-49. But Brandon Byerson delivered a counterpunch -- a 3-pointer at 17:19 -- to defuse Saint Paul's last charge.
