THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 6, 1997 TAG: 9702060645
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: 78 lines
For 35 minutes Wednesday night, Old Dominion's basketball team holed up in its locker room for a soul-searching talk after getting pounded by William and Mary 80-52.
The Monarchs may have been searching for some heart as well.
It was their worst whipping since a 37-point loss to North Carolina five seasons ago. And it was ODU's worst Colonial Athletic Assocation defeat in six seasons as a conference member.
``They reached right in and took our heart and put it in our face,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said. ``They just had their way with us.''
ODU jumped to a 9-2 lead in the game's first four minutes, but the Tribe raced to a 38-18 halftime edge.
``We just gave up,'' said ODU center Reggie Bassette, whose 17 rebounds were the lone beacon on ODU's stat sheet indicating solid effort. ``This game, we didn't play like we had any heart.''
Capel said when ODU (15-8, 6-5 CAA) hit an offensive dry spell, it stopped competing defensively - the exact opposite of what is needed during an offensive lapse.
ODU shot a school-record-low 26.1 percent from the field. The previous mark for field-goal futility was 26.2 percent in last season's CAA tournament loss to UNC Wilmington.
``We just don't have any toughness on this basketball team,'' Capel said. ``We don't have anybody on our team that will say the things or do the things that need to be done to get this team to play at a competitive level.
``It can't come from the coaches. It has to come from within, and we've got nobody on this team that's willing to step up and do that. We don't have a Petey Sessoms or a Mike Jones or a Mario Mullen that will grab somebody by the collar and tell them to get their behind in gear and get the job done.
``I don't want this to sound the wrong way, but we're almost too nice.''
William and Mary (7-13, 4-6) beat the Monarchs twice in the same season for the first time. The Tribe had lost 24 of their last 25 to ODU prior to winning at Scope two weeks ago.
It was the Tribe's largest margin of victory ever in a CAA game, setting season highs in five categories including shooting percentage (48.3 percent) against a team that led the CAA in field-goal percentage defense. The Tribe was the poorest-shooting team in the league coming in at 39 percent.
``I don't know if we match up well against them man-for-man - defensively especially - or what it is,'' William and Mary's David Grabuloff said. ``It's weird, I don't know how to explain it.''
Odell Hodge, who was guarded by Grabuloff, had some explaining to do. Grabuloff finished with a game-high 21 points, including 10 in a row and 15 points of a 23-4 run to close the first half. Hodge, meanwhile, had 10 points and one rebound before being benched most of the second half.
``Odell Hodge did not play at all tonight,'' Capel said.
``We just didn't come ready to play, bottom line,'' Hodge said. ``When you don't come ready to play you lose, that's it.''
Hodge, ODU's top scorer, was 4 of 8 from the field, while second-leading scorer Mark Poag was 0 of 8 and Bassette was 2 of 11 - a combined 6 of 27 for ODU's starting front line. Not that the perimeter game was any better - ODU hit 2 of 16 3-pointers and, save for the two treys by Freddie Bryant, did not make a shot from beyond six feet.
The Tribe's lead reached 37 points with 1:53 to play before ODU scored the last nine points of the game when it was playing three walk-ons. The Monarchs went nearly nine minutes at one point without a field goal before Brandon Jones' hoop with 1:43 left.
After having no answers for the Tribe, ODU left William and Mary Hall with questions about who can save the Monarchs from their heart condition.
``Somebody's got to step up,'' Capel said. ``Who that is, I don't know. I'm scared that we don't have anybody that can do it, that's what scares me.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot
Reggie Bassette seizes a rebound from W&M's Randy Bracy. Bassette's
17 rebounds were the only bright spot for ODU on Wednesday.
HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot
``We just don't have any toughness on this basketball team,'' ODU
coach Jeff Capel said after the 28-point loss to William and Mary.