THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 26, 1995 TAG: 9511260210
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ANCHORAGE, ALASKA LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Old Dominion made a bundle of big shots to scramble back from a 19-point deficit to Ohio, but couldn't get three potential game-winning shots to drop.
Ohio outlasted ODU 90-89 in double overtime in the Great Alaska Shootout Saturday at Sullivan Arena. The Monarchs (1-2) finished sixth in the eight-team tournament.
ODU freshman Mike Byers missed an open 3-pointer at the end of the second overtime that would have won the game.
``It felt good when it left my hand,'' said Byers, who scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half and overtimes. ``I'm not going to let it get me down. Tonight it didn't fall, but the next time I get a chance, I'll knock it down.''
Joe Bunn was ODU's first offensive option, but when he got the ball inside he was triple-teamed and passed out to Byers.
``Just to take that shot as a freshman takes a lot of guts,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said. ``I think that says a lot about him.''
A freshman got ODU into overtime when Mark Poag hit a 3-pointer with five seconds left in regulation to tie the game 71-71. It was the first time since Ohio took a 7-6 lead that it was not ahead, and completed ODU's comeback from a 19-point deficit with 17 minutes remaining.
E.J. Sherod then made a steal and ODU called time with a second left. On the in-bounds play from midcourt, Brion Dunlap made a baseball pass to Odell Hodge, who missed a fall-away 6-footer at the buzzer.
The 71-71 tie was the first of four in the two overtimes. There were also eight lead changes, four in each OT period, and the biggest lead was four points.
``Both teams were spilling their guts out the whole time,'' Ohio coach Larry Hunter said.
At the end of the first overtime, ODU had another last-shot opportunity following an Ohio turnover with 27 seconds left. Sherod backed his man into the lane as the clock wound down, then put up a turn-around 8-footer that did not fall. The teams went to double-overtime tied 81-81.
In the final overtime, the Bobcats (2-1) took the lead with 2:06 left on a 12-foot fall-away jumper by Geno Ford, who led Ohio with 24 points. After Mario Mullen missed a 3-pointer, Ohio's Damion Washington hit a 3-pointer for a 90-86 edge with 1:08 left.
Bunn - who led ODU with 25 points and had 11 rebounds - scored on a three-point play with 45 seconds left, then forced yet another Ohio turnover when he struggled with Basra Fakhir for the ball under the Bobcats' basket. Fakhir fell down out of bounds with 17 seconds left, setting up Byers' last shot.
``I thought it was a great second half, for our team in particular,'' Capel said. ``When you get down that many points against a great team like Ohio and come back like we did, I'm really proud of my kids.
``Joe made the right play. There were three people on him. We got a clean look, that's all you can ask for. It just didn't go down.''
The Monarchs got down by as many as 19 points early in the first half with a listless performance that was most noticeable in the Bobcats' 25-14 rebounding advantage.
``We played like mud in the first half,'' Byers said.
Capel challenged the Monarchs at halftime to make a stand, and they did by picking up the intensity defensively. They also began to knock down some shots, hitting 9 of 16 3-point shots in second half and overtimes. Mullen made four 3-pointers after the half and Poag had two of his three.
``We have to come out and play like that the whole 40 minutes,'' said Mullen, who had 14 points and 12 rebounds in his first start of the season.
Both teams made 28 of 67 field goals.The Monarchs, however, shot just 64 percent from the line (21 of 33) compared to 83 percent by Ohio (29 of 35).
``We fought so hard to get back,'' Bunn said. ``When we got back in it, we thought it would be our game.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ohio University guard Geno Ford tries to get around ODU defender
Duffy Samuels during the Bobcats' 90-89 win.
by CNB