Chesapeake – Not only was it the first Ohio Valley Conference game of the season, it was a pivotal game.

Wednesday, January 05, 2000

Chesapeake – Not only was it the first Ohio Valley Conference game of the season, it was a pivotal game.

The preseason favorites in the OVC race met Tuesday night with the favored Chesapeake Panthers beating the South Point Pointers 66-48.

Anthony Delimpo had 25 points and 17 rebounds to pace the Panthers win. Adam Pemberton finished with 8 points, six assists, and seven steals. Bobby Barbour finished with 12 points.

Pemberton attended a funeral in Alabama earlier in the day and flew back just in time for the game.

"Pemberton got us into our transition game early with his steals," Panthers coach Norm Persin said. "You’ve got to give him a lot of credit. To be at a funeral all day and get back after 7 o’clock. We didn’t know if he could make it back. He’s our catalyst and he’s our best defensive player. You can’t look just at his points."

Chesapeake remained unbeaten in seven games with the win and hung a loss on the Pointers, the team expected to be their main challenger in the league title chase.

Despite the win, Persin wasn’t all that pleased.

"We didn’t play well," Persin said. "Delimpo did it all and Pemberton played his guts out. We jumped on them early and some late. The game was only 10 or 12 points most of the time."

Brian Cremeans had 18 points to lead South Point (4-3) with Shane Holsinger adding 11. The Panthers defense held Jared Perdue to 6 points and B. J. Ferrell to just one field goal.

"We did a pretty good job defensively to hold them to 48 points. They have some shooters," Persin said.

Delimpo scored 8 points the first quarter as Chesapeake jumped out to a 22-11 lead. The Panthers led 39-27 at the half.

Chesapeake extended its lead to 53-38 after three quarters as Delimpo scored 8 more points.

The Panthers continued to pull away as they outscored the Pointers 13-10 the final quarter. Cremeans had 8 of South Point’s total.

Friday in the OVC, Chesapeake hosts Fairland while South Point entertains Rock Hill.

SOUTH POINT – 11 16 11 10 – 48: B. J. Ferrell 1 0 0-0 2, Brian Cremeans 3 3 3-7 18, Shane Holsinger 2 0 7-8 11, Jared Perdue 3 0 0-0 6, Bryan Maggard 1 0 0-0 2, Willie Anderson 1 0 1-1 3, D. J. Bryant 1 0 0-0 2, Chris Robinson 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 17-46 (3-14) 11-16 48. Fouls: 27. Fouled out: Ferrell, Anderson.

CHESAPEAKE – 22 17 14 13 – 66: Bobby Barbour 3 1 3-5 12, Andy Clark 2 0 0-0 4, Adam Pemberton 1 0 6-12 8, Josh Waugh 1 1-2 3, Justin Saunders 0 1 1-2 4, Matt Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Zeb Best 4 0 0-2 8, Matt White 0 0 2-2 2, Anthony Delimpo 11 0 3-7 25. Totals: 24-51 (2-14) 16-32 66. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 32 (Delimpo 17). Steals: 16 (Pemberton 7). Steals: 12 (Pemberton 6). Turnovers. 20.