THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 6, 1994 TAG: 9411060381
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
It didn't look like an exhibition game.
Old Dominion and Court Authority played like it was the season's last game Saturday at the ODU field house. Court Authority won in double overtime, 127-119.
``I'd love to play ball all night long and go into tomorrow morning,'' ODU guard Mike Jones said.
For a while it looked like that might happen. But Court Authority - a team composed of former college and a pro players - pulled away in the second overtime as ODU made 3 of 10 field-goal attempts and one Monarch front-line player after another fouled out. And one was in street clothes. Coach Jeff Capel said after mulling it over for a couple weeks, the coaches decided Friday to redshirt 6-foot-9 junior center Derrick Parker. That leaves the Monarchs with 10 scholarship players available this season.
ODU led by 10 with 10 minutes to play in regulation, but Court Authority eliminated the deficit in just four minutes. In the final six minutes of regulation and the two five-minute overtimes, the teams were within five points of each other until the closing seconds of the second OT.
``We played all right,'' said Jones, who led all scorers with 36 points on 12-of-25 shooting. ``Definitely the difference in the game was rebounding and execution at key points in the game.''
ODU was outrebounded 50-45 and turned the ball over 21 times to Court Authority's 17.
The game almost ended in regulation when Monarch center Odell Hodge rebounded an air ball and fired a baseball pass 85 feet. The ball banged off the backboard and rimmed out of the basket.
``They're a good team,'' Capel said. ``I was very pleased with the execution at times, and at times we broke down. That effort would have beaten a lot of teams tonight.''
Court Authority lost to Virginia by 14 Friday night and beat American by 12 Tuesday. by CNB