THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 10, 1995 TAG: 9512100278
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TOLEDO, OHIO LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Say this for Toledo's basketball team: the Rockets take advantage of what you give them.
And Old Dominion gave them plenty.
Toledo sent the Monarchs to their third consecutive loss Saturday, 92-80 at Savage Hall. The Rockets charged to a 15-point halftime lead largely because of 22 points scored off 12 Monarch first-half turnovers. Then the Rockets held off Old Dominion's second-half charge by making 23 of 24 free throws.
Toledo made 31 consecutive foul shots on the night and finished 32 of 33 from the line, or 97 percent.
``It's the worst defense we've played all year,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said. ``They're a good team, but if we allow this team to score 90 points on us, we're going to get blistered by teams in our league.''
The Monarchs, picked to win the Colonial Athletic Association, have been blistered by nonconference foes. They are 2-5, and things don't get any easier soon. ODU is off for exams until a Dec. 18 game at Texas Tech, but Saturday's game was the first of five away from home for the Monarchs.
Capel couldn't find solace in any facet of the Monarchs' play as he scoured the stat sheet. And the biggest reason for distress didn't show up there.
Leading scorer and rebounder Joe Bunn started the game and seemed to run unimpeded at first on his injured right big toe. But five minutes into the game he was limping up and down the court with a sprained right ankle. With 9:54 left in the half, he hobbled to the bench and didn't return.
``I think in 10 days he should be OK,'' Capel said. ``I hope he doesn't start to think he's jinxed and it's going to be one thing after another.''
The loss of Bunn was one of a myriad of Monarch problems. Second-leading scorer Mike Byers made 2 of 18 from the field and was held to five points. While Byers couldn't make his shots, Toledo's defense kept ODU's other outside threat, fellow freshman Mark Poag, from getting them. Poag got off just four shots, none in the first half, and finished with five points after scoring 17 and 18 in his first two starts.
Reserves Mario Mullen (15 points) and E.J. Sherod (11) picked up some of the slack to go along with center Odell Hodge's team-high 16, but ODU played from behind from three minutes into the game on and never did the little things. Capel said the poor defense, lack of effort, bad passes, bobbling the ball and failure to finish plays all led to the collapse.
``We'll give them two or three days off and then get together and try to figure out what's wrong and go back to basics,'' Capel said. ``We're not catching the ball, converting free throws and layups and we're making bad passes. Those areas are fundamental to the game.
``This team is beating itself, and that's our concern.''
Toledo's 5-foot-11 guard Craig Thames (30 points, 10 rebounds) had something to do with it as well, as did the Rockets' 51 percent shooting, best against ODU this season.
The game got away from the Monarchs late in the first half. They trailed 24-20 with almost six minutes left when Toledo went on an 11-0 run in just over two minutes. ODU turned the ball over three times and missed two shots in four possessions to contribute to Toledo's spurt.
Toledo built the lead to 19 at one point before ODU closed it to 15 at the half.
ODU rattled off an 11-2 run to cut the margin to 47-41 early in the second half, but Toledo (3-2) spurted back and built the margin back to as much as 13. The Monarchs cut it to seven with 2 1/2 minutes left, but the Rockets fired in 13 of 14 free throws down the stretch to stave off ODU.
``I said to somebody on our bench, `We've got to keep making free throws to win,' '' Toledo coach Larry Gipson said. by CNB