THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 30, 1995 TAG: 9511300526
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Hampton's J.J. Williams and Al Bell were raining down 3-pointers on Old Dominion, and Monarchs backup guard Duffy Samuels was getting antsy on the bench.
``Duffy kept telling me on the bench `Coach, let me get him, let me get him,' '' ODU coach Jeff Capel said. ``Finally when we got down 10, I said: `OK Duffy, he's yours.' ''
With Samuels providing a spark, the Monarchs picked up the defensive intensity and stormed back from a 10-point deficit with 5:48 remaining to beat the Pirates 75-67 Wednesday before a raucous 7,783 at Scope.
The Monarchs went on a 20-2 run after Capel put in the 5-foot-9 Samuels along with 5-11 Brion Dunlap and 6-2 freshman Mike Byers. Byers scored 21 points in the second half and finished with 23 on 9-of-14 shooting in his home debut.
``Probably I should have gone with that lineup a little sooner because we were having problems matching up with their three perimeter players,'' Capel said.
Once the Monarchs' three-guard lineup was inserted, the Pirates turned the ball over six times and made just 1 of 8 shots from the field on their next 11 possessions. Williams scored 24 points for the Pirates and Bell had 21, but they scored just two points in the final 5:45.
``It was like coach Capel said `Sic 'em,' '' Samuels said.
Hampton coach Byron Samuels was ready to sic an official after the game. He gave the refs the choke sign as they ran off the court.
The reason for his ire: Hampton was called for 20 fouls, ODU nine. The Pirates were outscored 17-4 at the free-throw line, attempting just six foul shots to ODU's 29.
``I thought the officiating was horrible. . . . Nine personal fouls, they hand- checked us all night,'' Byron Samuels said. ``In neither half did we get in the one-and-one. It's ridiculous.
``Those (officials) go home and they'll sleep at night and they're not accountable to anybody. It's a shame.''
Hampton (1-2), making the jump from Division II to Division I, used a hot 3-point shooting night to make it a game that it was poised to win. The Pirates made 13 of 25 3-pointers, hitting a much better percentage from beyond the arc (57 percent) than they did from inside it (32 percent).
``If they had a couple post players, they could go a long way,'' Capel said.
Byers started ODU's run with a 3-pointer with 5:38 to play and center Odell Hodge, who had 24 points and 14 rebounds, put the Monarchs ahead with two free throws at 2:03. Old Dominion then built an eight-point lead before a Hampton 3-pointer ended the 20-2 run with 15 seconds left.
``Defense, that's all I can say about it,'' Byers said. ``We put a different lineup in and tried to put pressure on them and it worked.''
Byers scored nine points in the final 5:38 and seemed oblivious to the pressure you would expect a freshman to feel in the closing minutes of a tight game.
``It says a lot about him,'' Capel said. ``We saw it in the Ohio game when we were in Alaska. The last shot to win that game, he took it but he missed it.
``I told him after that game `Mike, you're going to win a lot of games for us, don't worry about missing that last shot.'
``With the help of his teammates, he carried us tonight when we needed to score.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by BILL TIERNAN, The Virginian-Pilot
Hampton's J.J. Williams bangs into ODU's Odell Hodge. They led
their teams with 24 points apiece.
Photo by BILL TIERNAN, Staff
Hampton's Jermaine Gholson drives against ODU's Mario Mullen during
Wednesday night's game at Scope.
by CNB