THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, August 21, 1994                TAG: 9408210203
SECTION: SPORTS                   PAGE: C2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: GRAVELINES, FRANCE                 LENGTH: Medium:   70 lines

Old Dominion's basketball team flies out of France on Monday, but the Monarchs checked out mentally a bit early. ODU concluded its tour with its worst performance of the trip, losing, 80-59, Saturday to a Gravelines team that may have been the weakest ODU faced. ``I saw the beach in the players' eyes in the shootaround today,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said. ``They're ready to go home. I think they felt they could come out tonight and it would be easy, and the game isn't like that.'' Nothing came easy for the Monarchs on this trip. They lost all five games to teams from the top professional league in France. The officiating was atrocious throughout, but in Capel's estimation the refs saved the worst for last. ``This one, without a doubt, was the worst,'' Capel said. ``It also was the worst team, so I guess those two go hand in hand.'' What he means is the team needed more help to win, and got it. A journalist from the local paper said before the game, ``I know one thing: The officials are terrible.'' But even with a well-officiated game, the Monarchs might have faltered. In the second half they turned into Cold Dominion (10-of-30 from the field, 3-of-7 from the line) and appeared helpless to mount a charge as Gravelines' lead expanded to as much as 27 points. Despite the 0-5 mark, Capel gave the trip a stamp of approval. The first and last games were blowout losses, but in between ODU played well and hung in with experienced, talented clubs. ``The three in the middle were good,'' Capel said. So was the man in the middle for Gravelines. Sherron Mills, who played against most of these Monarchs when he was at Virginia Commonwealth, had 18 points, 13 rebounds, six blocks and two steals. ``It was a fun game for me to be playing against a team from the U.S.,'' Mills said. ``I know these guys from a couple years ago when they knocked us out of the NIT.'' Herve Dubuisson, billed as the career scoring leader in French basketball, had a game-high 24 points. Petey Sessoms led the Monarchs for the fourth time in five games with 17, Mark Johnson added 14 and Odell Hodge had 10 and 14 rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Before the game, the Monarchs had another of those mini-adventures that will make this trip memorable. They arrived at their ``hotel'' after a four-hour bus ride, only to find something that appeared to be a dorm at some type of sports camp but could have passed for a minimum-security prison. ``We ain't staying here,'' Capel told trip organizer/interpreter Philippe. The Monarchs had tried to find out where they were staying for this game and could never get an answer. Now they knew why. So Philippe carted them off to another town to a two-star hotel that looked comparable to the first substandard hotel in which the Monarchs stayed in Nice. Capel shook his head. Finally, Philippe went a bit further until he steered ODU to a three-star hotel. ``Just another day in France,'' Corey Robinson said. And that's what the Monarchs have left - one more day. They fly out of Paris Monday and return to Norfolk on Monday night. OLD DOMINION: Sessoms 6-14 2-2 17, Harvey 0-4 0-0 0, Sherod 0-1 0-0 0, Robinson 2-8 2-3 7, Johnson 5-9 0-0 14, Mullen 2-3 0-0 4, Hodge 5-12 0-2 10, Jones 3-8 0-2 6, Parker 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 23-61 5-11 59. GRAVELINES: Senechal 4-6 1-3 9, Emeline 2-5 0-0 4, Broalleir 1-3 4-4 6, Mills 8-16 2-2 18, Messinya 0-1 1-2 1, Dosanjos 0-3 0-2 0, N'doye 5-12 2-2 12, Smith 3-4 0-2 6, Dubuisson 8-17 6-7 24. Totals 31-67 16-24 80. Halftime: Gravelines, 41-33. 3--point goals: ODU 8-20 (Sessoms 3-9, Robinson 1-3, Johnson 4-7, Jones 0-2, Hodge 0-1). Gravelines 2-11 (Senegal 0-1, Broalleir 0-2, Dosanjos 0-1, Dubuisson 2-7. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: ODU 42 (Hodge 14), Gravelines 43 (Mills 13). Assists: ODU 10 (Robinson 3), Gravelines 15 (Emeline 4). Total fouls: ODU 21, Gravelines 11. Att: 700. by CNB