If trends continue as expected, Mary Washington will have its first winning basketball team in 1981-82. Three seasons ago, MWC struggled to a 1-25 mark. In 1979-80, the Blue Tide improved to 6-20, and a season ago, Mary Washington flirted with the .500 mark at 11-15. This season, overall improvement in addition to those positive trends point to more wins than losses for the first time in the eight year history of the NCAA Division III squad.

 

Coming off Mary Washington's most wins ever last March, Tide Coach Tom Davies felt his team's main weakness lay under the boards in rebounding strength. An excellent recruiting year improved the situation significantly. Three newcomers will combine with returners Frank Gilmore (8.6 rpg, 14.3 ppg) and Robert Watts (8.5 rpg, 12 ppg) to form a tall nucleus of rebounders. Pat Pekinpaugh, a 6-7 senior who sat out last season, Tony Farris, a 6-5 member of R. E. Lee's Virginia AAA championship team last year, and Winchester native Billy Eyles at 6-6, make up the trio of capable rebounders. All three additions equal or better the height of last season's tallest Tide player, Gilmore at 6-5.

 

Pekinpaugh returns to the team after a full year spent strengthening his body and his basketball skills. The Fredericksburg native already holds the MWC record for games played (74). At guard, Chris Thompson at the point and Tim Money on the wing return for another season. Money, this season's co-captain, is Mary Washington's all time leading scorer with 906 points and a 12.6 career scoring average. The 5-10 guard holds the Blue Tide record for consecutive free throws (28), and game free throw percentage (8-8, 100 percent). He is the career leader in free throws made (176), personal fouls (226), steals (88), and turnovers (191), and second in games played (72), field goals made (365), free throw percentage (.807), and assists (130). Thompson started 19 games as a

freshman point guard.

 

Relieving that pair will be a 1981-82 co-captain, Charles Wilson. The 6-1 senior has played every position for the Blue Tide in his three year career and could fill all three in his senior season. Marcus Mickle, a 6-2 leaper from Richmond, will fill the wing position vacated by this year's assistant coach, Barney Reiley (10 ppg). Paul Butler, a 6-3 transfer from the University of Maryland, will command an important role at the forward as well.

 

"We should be measurably stronger," Davies said. "The younger players will give us more depth, especially along the front line, but overall as well. We will be bigger at nearly every position and our quickness should be improved."

 

Mary Washington set a total of 28 records during the 1980-81 season -two individual game and two individual season marks and 15 team game and nine team season records. Frank Gilmore, with a .532 field goal percentage for the season and the seven offensive rebounds in a single game, set two standards. Barney Reiley converted eight of nine field goal attempts for a single game field goal percentage mark (88.8).