THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 26, 1995 TAG: 9501260537
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Old Dominion played it's best game of the season Wednesday, helping to at least soften one of the Monarch players' worst memories.
ODU whipped James Madison, 79-65, before 8,750 at Scope. The game didn't mean as much as their last meeting, when JMU beat ODU with an NCAA tournament bid on the line, but it was a meaninful victory nonetheless.
Old Dominion (10-8, 5-0) moves into sole possession of first place in the CAA. The Monarchs, winners of five in a row, have outscored league foes by an average of 9.8 points per outing.
The Dukes (9-6, 4-1) had their five-game winning streak snapped, and Lefty Driesell continued to struggle in his home town. He hasn't won in Norfolk during seven seasons at JMU, and the Dukes have dropped 11 in a row at Scope.
``They just kicked our butts,'' Driesell said. ``They played great defense tonight, we played passive. I was kind of embarrassed for my ballclub. I think that's probably the worst we've been beat since I've been at JMU.''
Maybe this one just felt worse, but ODU beat the Dukes by 16 at home last year.
The Dukes trailed, 9-0, before scoring their first basket almost six minutes into the game. They had more turnovers (nine) than points (eight) during the game's first 13 minutes. JMU was down by 13 points with 4:39 left in the first half.
But the Dukes cut the gap, spurred by a stretch in which ODU made just 3 of 21 field goal tries, and trailed, 30-22, at halftime.
``Coach came in and let us know right off the bat, `hey, we should be up by 15-18 points,' '' ODU's Mike Jones said.
Just over two minutes into the second half, the Monarchs were.
Petey Sessoms made a 3-pointer, followed by a Jones trey. Then Mario Mullen, who started what would be an 11-0 run with a jumper, concluded it with a basket underneath while being fouled by Kareem Robinson. Conversion of a three-point play gave ODU a 41-24 lead.
The Monarch expanded it to as much as 22 points with 8:48 to play. The Dukes were plagued by 18 turnovers and couldn't stop ODU's outside shooters as Jones and Sessoms made a combined 8 of 15 3-pointers.
``They put a lot of pressure on us and we didn't protect the ball,'' JMU's Darren McClinton said. ``Turnovers led to transition baskets and 3's (for ODU).''
James Madison had one last run in it, cutting the margin to 69-59 with 4:17 to play. But Sessoms answered with a 3-pointer and the Dukes missed their next eight shots.
``I thought it was maybe our best effort to date,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said. ``Our kids were really focused and really did a good job of taking the game plan from the scouting meeting last night to the floor.''
That plan, said Jones, was to shut down the Dukes' perimeter threats Louis Rowe - the league's leading scorer with a 23.9 average - and Kent Culuko. The strategy on Rowe was to deny him the ball then step back when he got it to prevent him from driving. Culuko got the opposite treatment, as the defender got up in his face when he caught the ball to prevent Culuko from launching 3-pointers.
Rowe, guarded primarily by Sessoms and at times by E.J. Sherod, was held to a season-low 11 points and committed eight turnovers. Culuko, primarily Jones' responsibility, had 10 points.
The Dukes played junk defenses to try to stop Sessoms and Jones, but it didn't work. Jones had 24 points, Sessoms 20.
``I've been watching a lot of tape on him,'' Sessoms, the conference's No. 2 scorer, said of Rowe. ``When you shut him down, most of the time they struggle.''
The Monarchs had struggled for months to put behind them their last meeting with JMU in which the Dukes beat ODU in the CAA championship game on Culuko's buzzer-beater. Capel said the coaches didn't talk about it in preparation for Wednesday, but Jones said the players did.
``As a team, I'm sure everyone thought about that feeling of walking down the tunnel last year and listening to JMU fans celebrate on the floor,'' Jones said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by The Daily Press
Old Dominion's Mike Jones, left, gets tangled up with James Coleman
if James Madison as they struggle for possession. Coleman drew a
technical foul for a ball-throwing incident.
Photo
Mike Jones led the way for Old Dominion with 24 points.
by CNB