THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 29, 1994 TAG: 9411290413
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
Petey Sessoms could tell early that he was on his game Monday night. Mike Jones quickly discovered that he was not.
But together, Old Dominion's two senior starters were the primary reasons the Monarchs beat South Carolina, 79-65, before an announced crowd of 5,165 at Scope.
``I got a few real aggressive rebounds in traffic,'' Sessoms said of his start. ``That really pumped me up and I started to play real hard. Once I got the ball and hit a couple shots, it started to fall right for me after that.''
Sessoms scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, his third double-double in three games. He made nine of 17 field-goal tries - including 4-of-7 from 3-point range - and all 11 of his free throws. Sessoms has made 24 consecutive free throws, the third-longest streak in ODU history and one he duplicated last season.
``I'm sure tonight Petey knew he was on,'' Jones said. ``He's going to have many nights like that. Good shooters do.''
And sometimes, shooters have nights like Jones had.
After scoring 20 in the first half of the Monarchs' win Saturday over Towson State, he had two in the first half Monday on 1-of-6 shooting. With three minutes left in the game, Jones had four points and appeared to be headed for just his fifth single-digit scoring game in his last 34 outings.
In the final 2:51, Jones scored nine points to key a 15-1 run for the Monarchs (2-1). He almost singlehandedly turned what had been a close game into a rout, leaving coach Jeff Capel marveling at Jones' resiliency.
``You can tell he's a senior,'' Capel said. ``If that happens to a young kid, he might not be able to make plays later on in the game like Mike was able to make.''
South Carolina (1-1) trailed the entire game, but never by more than 10 points until the final minute. With just eight scholarship players, the Gamecocks were game, playing through foul trouble (two interior players fouled out) and bad shooting from both the floor (38 percent) and the line (12-of-24).
With 3:35 remaining, South Carolina's Malik Russell scored off an offensive rebound to cut ODU's lead to 64-61.
That was as close as the Gamecocks got. Sessoms and Jones both made a pair of free throws sandwiched around a a missed 3-point attempt by South Carolina. After one Gamecocks free throw, Jones made a runner in the lane with 1:58 remaining, then a pair of free throws with 1:09 to play that put ODU up, 72-62.
Then Jones put the game away with a steal and fast-break basket with 53 seconds left. South Carolina's Peter Van Elswyk was called for an intentional foul on the play, so after the basket Jones made one of two free throws and ODU got the ball out of bounds.
Odell Hodge, who scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, tallied the Monarchs' final four points.
South Carolina, led by guard Carey Rich's 16 points, made just one of its final seven field-goal tries. Old Dominion outrebounded the Gamecocks, 39-33, and shot 49 percent from the floor.
NOTE: Approximately 800 tickets to the North Carolina-Old Dominion men's basketball game Dec. 29 at Scope will go on sale to the general public today at the ODU Athletic Office and all Ticket Master locations. The ticket office opens at 8 a.m. Tickets are $15 each and customers are limited to four tickets per person. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
PAUL AIKEN/Staff
Old Dominion's Petey Sessoms, left, steals a rebound from George
Formanek of South Carolina.
by CNB