THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 15, 1995 TAG: 9501150248
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Old Dominion's long-awaited road win came in a way coach Jeff Capel never would have figured it could..
ODU beat George Mason, 88-83, before 4,371 at the Patriot Center on Saturday. The victory snapped ODU's seven-game drought on the road this season and sent George Mason to its sixth consecutive defeat.
``This is our first road win - it's Christmas Day for us,'' Capel said. ``We're 2-0 in the league, but more importantly we got a win on the road, and this team really needed it.''
The Monarchs (7-8 overall) won despite their worst 3-point shooting effort of the season. ODU tied the school record with 32 attempts from beyond the arc. The Monarchs made just five, or 15.6 percent.
ODU came into the game shooting 38 percent from 3-point range, second-best in the Colonial Athletic Association.
``If anyone had told me that Mike Jones and Petey Sessoms would be whatever they were - I'll just pick a number, 5 of 30 is what it looked like - if anybody would have told me that this team could win a basketball game with those two not scoring, I would have thought they were crazy,'' Capel said.
He was close. Sessoms was 2 of 14 from 3-point range, Jones 2 of 11.
``I thought we did a pretty good job of shutting down what we had to,'' George Mason coach Paul Westhead said.
Don't get the impression the speed freak Patriots (5-8, 0-2) have become defensive stoppers. The Monarchs got numerous open looks at the basket and, for the most part, avoided falling into the track-meet mentality George Mason thrives on. Last year, ODU won here in the highest-scoring game in CAA history.
``We wanted to come in and not get caught up in the wild way they play,'' Sessoms said. ``We wanted to get good shots, and I got good shots. It wasn't my shooting night, I had to find other ways to contribute to the win.''
He did, and so did several other Monarchs.
Sessoms scored 20 points, with many coming off drives to the basket, and grabbed 12 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season.
Forward Mario Mullen sliced through whatever semblance of interior defense the Patriots played to score 21 points on 10 of 11 shooting. Many of those came courtesy of point guard Brion Dunlap, who tied his career high with 10 assists.
Centers David Harvey (eight) and Derrick Parker (seven) both matched their rebounding career highs, while Duffy Samuels, Dunlap's backup, matched his career-high 11 points and provided a vital defensive spark with three quick steals at a point when George Mason was nearing a double-digit lead.
It was Dunlap and reserve E.J. Sherod, however, who played key roles in the final sequences of the victory.
George Mason's Nate Langley (21 points) scored on a drive to the basket with 1:18 to play to tie the game at 83-83. The Monarchs, who had trailed by nine early in the second half, then scored the game's final five points.
Dunlap found a crease in GMU's zone, scoring on a drive with 42 seconds remaining. Patriot Curtis McCants' shot to tie the game was blocked in the lane by Mullen, who retained possession but then turned it over. George Mason's G.C. Marcaccini missed a short jumper, and the Patriots were forced to foul.
Dunlap went to the line with 22 seconds left and made the first of two free throws for an 86-83 ODU lead. Sherod outhustled Marcaccini for the rebound, saving the ball before it went out of bounds. He got the ball back and was fouled, and his two free throws with 15 seconds left sealed the win.
The Monarchs' next game is Wednesday at American. by CNB