THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 18, 1995 TAG: 9503180339
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ALBANY, N.Y. LENGTH: Long : 126 lines
In real time, the game lasted almost three hours.
In Old Dominion basketball lore, it will last forever.
The Monarchs pulled off perhaps the biggest upset of the NCAA tournament Friday, beating East Regional third seed Villanova, 89-81, in triple overtime at Knickerbocker Arena. It was the first triple overtime game in the tournament since the field expanded to 64 teams.
The last one was in 1982. The winner in that game was Villanova, over Northeastern.
Not this time, Wildcats.
``What a game,'' said Old Dominion coach Jeff Capel, who will never forget his 100th career win as a college head coach. ``It's one of the best basketball games I've ever been a part of, and maybe one of the best I've ever viewed.''
And it is probably the biggest win ever for Old Dominion's program. Which made ODU's reaction at the end of the marathon curious: a few hugs and a few high-fives before they calmly walked to the locker room.
``Knowing we've got five more games - I mean, we could have five more games - we didn't want to celebrate too early,'' ODU forward Petey Sessoms said.
If ODU plays five more games, it would be in the national championship.
The win was just ODU's second in seven Division I tournament games. ODU joined Weber State, an upset winner Friday over Michigan State, as only the ninth and 10th 14 seeds ever to beat a No. 3 seed.
Old Dominion (21-11) moves on to a second-round game against the Illinois-Tulsa winner at approximately 2:45 p.m. Sunday here. The winner moves on to the East Regional semifinals next weekend at the Meadowlands.
Sessoms, Mike Jones and David Harvey were asked at the postgame press conference if they had packed for more than two days in Albany.
``Definitely,'' they answered almost in unison.
Sessoms was primarily responsible for sending the nation's ninth-ranked team packing. He matched his career high with 35 points, made the big shots and key plays when ODU needed them most and contributed to a defensive job that made All-American Kerry Kittles look ordinary at times. Kittles scored 22 points on 9 of 20 shooting and committed nine turnovers.
Sessoms had just seven points at halftime, but scored 15 in the second half and 13 in the three overtimes. None were bigger than the five he scored in the final 1:27 of the third overtime.
Villanova's Chuck Kornegay tipped in a miss to tie the game at 79 with 1:47 to play. Sessoms answered that with a 15-foot baseline jumper with 1:27 remaining to put ODU back up by two.
With about 1:15 to play, Jones batted away a pass, and then on the offensive end drove the baseline and dished to Harvey coming down the lane, who scored with 49.8 left for an 83-79 ODU lead.
After two good plays, Jones made a mistake, fouling Villanova's Jonathan Haynes with 47.7 remaining while trying to go for a steal. Haynes made both foul shots.
ODU's E.J. Sherod was fouled underneath the Monarch basket with 35.3 remaining, and made 1 of 2 for an 84-81 ODU lead.
That set up the sequence in which the Monarchs put the game away.
Sessoms came from behind to block a shot right under the basket by Villanova's Zeffy Penn The Monarchs got back quickly in transition, and Sessoms scored on an acrobatic layup while being fouled by Eric Eberz.
Sessoms threw a few combination punches in the air and the Monarch bench exploded with joy.
Sessoms converted the free throw, and ODU had an 87-81 lead with 22.2 seconds remaining. Penn missed a 3-pointer, and Brion Dunlap added two free throws for the final margin.
``Old Dominion did a great job of hanging in there,'' Villanova coach Steve Lappas said. ``They've got guys who played 50 (Mario Mullen) and 53 minutes (Sessoms). It was a marathon.''
Actually, ODU was ahead most of the race. Villanova led, 3-2, in the early going. Once the Monarchs moved ahead, 8-6, they led for the game's next 31 minutes, until Wildcat Jason Lawson made a basket and a foul shot with 3:30 left in regulation.
That was the first of four lead changes in the remainder of regulation and the overtimes. There were also seven ties.
Sessoms tied the game at 58 with three foul shots with 31.2 left in regulation. Villanova's Lawson had a shot in the lane and a tip at the end of regulation, but neither fell.
At the end of the first overtime, ODU's Jones missed a 6-foot open jumper at the buzzer that would have won the game. Sessoms had tied it at 67 with two more clutch free throws.
In the second overtime, Villanova built a five-point lead, but Jones made a 3-pointer and ODU made 2 of 4 free throws in the final 1:11 to tie it at 72-72. Villanova's Haynes had a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner to win it, and when it bounced off he fell face-first on the court in disgust.
In the third overtime, ODU got eight points from Sessoms and made 9 of 10 free throws to bounce the Big East champion Wildcats (25-8) from the tournament. ODU's only other NCAA tourney win came against West Virginia in 1986.
``I kept telling these guys in the third overtime they weren't tired,'' Capel said. ``They just looked at me like I was crazy.''
That's how most people looked at the Monarchs before the game when they said they expected to win. They didn't seem crazy afterward, and they are expecting more.
Capel was asked when he expects his team to loosen up and celebrate.
``Hopefully in Seattle,'' he said.
OLD DOMINION (21-11): Sessoms 10-25 11-12 35, Mullen 6-14 4-8 16, Harvey 4-6 1-2 9, Dunlap 0-2 3-4 3, Jones 6-18 3-4 19, Samuels 1-4 0-0 2, Sherod 1-2 3-4 5, D.Parker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-71 25-34 89.
VILLANOVA (22-8): Kornegay 4-12 3-4 11, Eberz 0-5 2-5 2, Lawson 7-14 4-6 18, Haynes 5-13 4-6 15, Kittles 9-20 2-3 22, Williams 5-10 3-4 13, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Penn 0-2 0-0 0. T. 30-76 18-28 81.
Halftime-ODU 29, Villanova 24. Regulation-ODU 58, Villanova 58. First Overtime-ODU 67, Villanova 67. Second Overtime-ODU 72, Villanova 72. 3-Point goals-ODU 8-26 (Sessoms 4-12, Jones 4-10, Mullen 0-1, Dunlap 0-1, Samuels 0-2), Villanova 3-21 (Kittles 2-7, Haynes 1-7, Penn 0-1, Williams 0-2, Eberz 0-4). Fouled out-Jones, Lawson, Williams. Rebounds-ODU 48 (Mullen 10), Villanova 46 (Lawson 17). Assists-ODU 15 (Dunlap 7), Villanova 16 (Haynes 5). Total fouls-ODU 21, Villanova 24. A-15,100. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
Staff
Mike Jones of Old Dominion powers his way inside to grab a rebound
against Villanova. Jones and his Monarchs needed to go three
overtimes to upset the No. 3-seeded Wildcats in a first-round game.
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
Staff
Old Dominion's Petey Sessoms, who scored 35 points, grabs the ball
early in the Monarchs' win.
by CNB