THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 22, 1995 TAG: 9512220543
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LARAMIE, WYO. LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
For the first time in a long time, there was cheer in an Old Dominion postgame locker room Wednesday, and it had nothing to do with the approaching holiday.
The Monarchs got a win in the west - 66-52 at Wyoming - to prevent their season from going further south. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak.
``It was very important for this team,'' sophomore forward Joe Bunn said. ``Team morale was down. We didn't want to go into Christmas break with another loss.''
It wasn't the prettiest game - 20 turnovers per team, not one 3-pointer made and a combined 61 percent free-throw shooting. But the win helped the Monarchs (3-6) avoid an unwanted brush with history.
A 2-7 start would have been ODU's worst in 54 years. In 1941-42, when the school was known as the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary, the basketball team went 0-14.
A four-game losing streak was adversity enough for this team. In a sense, coach Jeff Capel considers the Monarchs to be on a good two-game streak, even though the first was Monday's five-point loss at powerful Texas Tech.
``It's good to see we put two games together where we played well,'' Capel said. ``It does a lot for our confidence right now.
``I thought we did a good job defensively. We frustrated Wyoming.''
The Cowboys (4-3) shot a season-low 27.8 percent from the field and were 0 for 15 from 3-point range - ODU missed all six of its treys, but shot 48.1 percent overall. Wyoming's top two scorers, LaDrell Whitehead and Jeron Roberts, had averaged 16.3 points apiece.
They combined for just 18 points Wednesday on combined 4-for-23 shooting.
``We had a lot of guys who didn't show up,'' Wyoming coach Joby Wright said.
The Monarchs took advantage of their size advantage, which averaged 2 inches per man in the starting lineup. ODU center Odell Hodge (8 for 13) and power forward Joe Bunn (8 for 11) dominated inside.
``In the games earlier, we got away from me and Odell touching the ball a lot,'' said Bunn, who collapsed at one point clutching his left ankle, which he sprained nine days earlier at Toledo.
Bunn returned moments later, but was hobbled. More than any other Monarch, he needs the week between games.
ODU broke for Christmas upon returning to Norfolk Thursday. The Monarchs will reconvene for a workout Christmas day and then fly to Sacramento, Calif., where they will play Idaho in the Sacramento Holiday Classic Dec. 27 at Arco Arena. The next night, ODU will play either host Cal State-Sacramento or George Washington.
Junior guard E.J. Sherod is one player who doesn't need a break. He turned in his third consecutive solid game against Wyoming, scoring 13 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists. He also did most of the defensive work on Whitehead, who was 1 for 12 from the field.
Sherod has played some of the best basketball of his career on the three consecutive road games. He's averaged 14.3 points - including a career-high 19 against Texas Tech - while making 14 of 18 from the field (78 percent). He's played a lot at point guard during that stretch, and committed just five turnovers in three games.
Wednesday, he could relish his own performance a bit more than the previous two because it coincided with the Monarchs' first win since Nov. 29.
``It's one of the biggest victories of the season,'' Sherod said. ``It was so important to get the feeling of winning again.
``We didn't want to go into Christmas 2-7 and wondering how close we were to getting a win.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Old Dominion guard Mike Byers, left, attempts to work the ball
around Jeron Roberts of Wyoming during Wednesday's action.
by CNB