THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 1, 1995 TAG: 9502010618
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
East Carolina came closer than any Colonial Athletic Association team thus far to beating Old Dominion, but Petey Sessoms and Brion Dunlap kept the Monarchs' winning streak alive.
With a 69-66 decision over the Pirates at Scope, ODU (12-8, 7-0) completed the first half of its league schedule undefeated. The Monarchs, winners of seven in a row, are off to their best conference start since the program moved to Division I in 1976-77.
Sessoms was primarily responsible for pulling ODU through its toughest conference test to date.
``Petey is our horse,'' Monarchs coach Jeff Capel said. ``We're going to saddle him up and ride him until he drops.''
Sessoms dropped in 26 points, grabbed seven rebounds and made one of the game's biggest defensive plays when he blocked a Chuckie Robinson shot with about a minute to go. Sessoms scored 19 of ODU's 34 second-half points.
``He's just really clutch sometimes,'' East Carolina coach Eddie Payne said. ``He made the big shots.''
Sessoms breakaway slam dunk with 7:14 to play gave ODU a 58-52 lead. IT also was the Monarchs' final field goal of the game. The Pirates tied it at 58 just over two minutes later with three baskets sandwiched around a pair of Monarchs turnovers.
In the final 4 1/2 minutes, ODU attempted just one field goal but made 11 of 14 foul shots. The Monarchs led, 67-60, with 49.5 seconds left when the Pirates (13-7, 3-4), who trailed most of the game, made one last run.
ECU's Tony Parham made a jumper with 39 seconds left, and then a double-team caused Sessoms to lose the ball out of bounds. Robinson's tip-in cut the lead to 67-64 with 25.8 seconds to play.
The Pirates fouled ODU freshman point guard Dunlap, who missed both free throws with 20.8 left.
Robinson cut the margin to 67-66 with a pair of free throws with 10.7 remaining.
Dunlap was fouled again with 7.7 seconds left. He made both shots.
``The first two felt good; they were just off,'' Dunlap said. ``As a player, you've got to want to step up to the line and hit the free throws down the stretch.''
ECU's Othello Meadows missed a potential game-tying 3-point shot as time wound down.
Dunlap had one of his best games at ODU, with a career-high 10 points to go with seven assists and no turnovers. Capel was most pleased with the clutch free throws after two previous misses.
``For a freshman, it's really important that he have that kind of success because, at his position, he's going to have the ball at the end,'' Capel said. ``I don't know if he could have recovered if he had missed both of those.''
David Harvey scored 10, eight of which came in the second half. Mike Jones struggled for the second consecutive game, making 1 of 7 shots for three points.
The Monarchs won for just the third time this season in the nine games in which they have been outrebounded. East Carolina feasted on the boards, enjoying a 33-22 advantage. But ODU compensated with 10 steals and just 12 turnovers to East Carolina's 19.
``We got too many unforced turnovers, and you can't do that against a good team and expect to win,'' ECU's Payne said.
The Pirates' Anton Gill (19 points) and Robinson (14) hurt the Monarchs inside. Capel said ODU did a good job of controlling perimeter players Tim Basham and Skipp Schaefbauer, who combined for 19 points on 7-of-18 shooting.
By and large, we played in spots very well,'' Capel said. ``We were out-hustled and out-played for most of this game and were very fortunate to win.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
PAUL AIKEN/Staff
Old Dominion's Mike Jones and East Carolina's Anton Gill fight for a
rebounds, an area in which ECU held a 33-22 edge. The game, a
struggle to the finish, wasn't over until Othello Meadows' 3-pointer
try failed in the final seconds.
by CNB