THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 18, 1994 TAG: 9412180445
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HONOLULU LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Old Dominion's play mirrored the weather in Hawaii on Friday - fairly hot, a few short shower bursts followed by the emergence of bright sun, producing a rainbow.
The Monarchs defeated Weber State in overtime, 94-86, to advance to Saturday's late-night final of the Hawaii Nike Festival. ODU weathered a few stormy stretches but was hot from the field (a season-best 53.8 percent) and shone brightly on defense. The victory produced a game with the Rainbows of Hawaii in the basketball tournament's final.
ODU coach Jeff Capel began the game wearing a traditional Hawaiian lei. He chucked it when the Monarchs fell behind early, deeming it bad luck.
``You're down 15 points, it's time to put the lei away,'' Capel said.
The Monarchs (5-3) put the Wildcats away in overtime with defense.
After a Petey Sessoms 3-pointer gave the Monarchs an 86-83 lead midway through the overtime period, ODU's E.J. Sherod blocked a shot and threw an outlet pass to a streaking Mike Jones for a layup. Although the official stats failed to credit Sherod with a block, Capel called it probably the key play of the overtime because it set off ODU's defensive surge.
Brion Dunlap made a steal on the Wildcats' next possession and fed Jones for another fast-break hoop. Jones then stole the inbounds pass and was fouled going to the basket. He made 1 of 2 free throws, and in a little more than a minute the Monarchs had an 8-0 run and an insurmountable 91-83 lead with 1:29 to play.
``They played great defense in the overtime,'' said forward Jimmy DeGraffenried, who had seven 3-pointers and a career-high 35 points for Weber State (3-3). ``They forced us to make a couple of stupid mistakes.''
The Monarchs made a few of their own at the end of regulation. They led, 78-73, with three minutes remaining but got one point and made two turnovers in their final five possessions of regulation. Weber State's Ruben Nembhard misfired on a 10-footer that could have won the game for the Wildcats at the end of regulation.
``We said when we went into overtime, `We're going to win this game, and we're going to win it with defense,' '' Capel said.
Defense already had brought the Monarchs back from the 15-point deficit. Three steals and 8-of-11 field-goal shooting in the final 5 1/2 minutes of the first half enabled ODU to cut that margin to 43-42 at halftime.
The Monarchs have played their best this year when their defensive pressure has taken over the game. Defensive strategy is probably the biggest difference between Capel and former coach Oliver Purnell.
Purnell's teams pressed most of the time and played man-to-man in the half-court. Capel has rarely applied full-court pressure and uses more zone, especially with Odell Hodge lost for the season with an injury. The Monarchs still exert defensive pressure in the half-court, as they demonstrated Friday.
ODU recorded a season-high 14 steals. Through eight games, the Monarchs are averaging 9.5 steals per game, a big improvement over last season's 7.5. Monarchs opponents are averaging 17.5 turnovers, compared with 15.6 last year.
``We still have the up-tempo style, but the pressure is half-court man-to-man instead of full-court zone press,'' Sherod said. ``Every time we step it up defensively, good things happen.''
Sherod, a sophomore, stepped up to highlight one of ODU's best bench performances of the season. He scored 11 points - including a pair of 3-pointers - had a career-high six assists and played point guard for a few minutes for the first time this season.
``He's our utility man,'' Capel said. ``Whatever needs to be done, E.J. goes in and does it.''
Backup center David Harvey contributed heavily off the bench, scoring six points to go with eight rebounds, three assists and a steal. And starting freshman point guard Dunlap had career highs in points (nine) and steals (four) to go along with five rebounds.
But the familiar trio of Sessoms, Jones and Mullen carried the Monarchs with combined 25-of-42 shooting. Sessoms scored 24; Mullen matched his career high with 22, and Jones had 20 and a career-high six steals. They got their points despite a triangle-and-two defense by Weber State.
``We got off to a nice start with it and it gave them some trouble,'' Weber State coach Ron Abegglen said. ``I just wanted to stop their three big scorers.''
The Wildcats couldn't, and ODU became the first team to shoot better than 50 percent this season against them. The Monarchs have shot 50 percent or better three times in eight games, matching the number of times they did so all of last season.
Heading into the game with Hawaii, an 84-57 winner over Baylor on Friday, ODU had not won a game on an opponent's home court. The Weber State victory on a neutral court was ODU's first away from Scope.
``That gives us confidence we can win on the road,'' Mullen said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Weber State's Kirk Smith, left, and ODU's E.J. Sherod battle for a
rebound. Sherod pitched in 11 points and six assists off the bench.
by CNB