THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 28, 1995 TAG: 9512280424
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SACRAMENTO LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Old Dominion left home and hearth on Christmas evening to travel here to face Idaho on Wednesday night in the Sacramento Holiday Classic.
Apparently, ODU left its shooting touch under the tree. The Monarchs shot just 39 percent and fell to the Vandals 65-54 in front of a smattering of fans in Arco Arena.
It was a long way to come for such a disappointing performance. Old Dominion, coming off an impressive win at Wyoming on Dec. 20, was trying to win consecutive games for the first time this year. Instead, the Monarchs fell to 3-7.
``Were were flat,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said. ``That's my fault. I take full responsibility. I should have had them better prepared.''
The Monarchs, looking road-weary on their final long regular-season trip of the year, never led and never got closer than 10 after the 4:01 mark of the first half. They'll play tonight at 9 in the tournament consolation against the loser of Wednesday's late game between George Washington and Cal-Sacramento.
``We don't have a lot of time to feel sorry for ourselves,'' Capel said. ``We'll find out a lot about ourselves (tonight).''
Old Dominion struggled from the perimeter and got very little from its bench. The Monarchs shot 3 of 23 from 3-point range and got just seven points from its bench. Mario Mullen and Joe Bunn led the Monarchs with 13 points each. Odell Hodge was held to eight, none in the second half.
``We just couldn't execute at all,'' Hodge said. ``We played catch-up all night.''
Idaho, on the other hand, got 17 points from guard Reggie Rose. Just four of Rose's points came after halftime. And the Vandals outrebounded ODU 41-31.
``The holiday had nothing to do with it,'' Capel said. ``We were rested. We had a good workout. We had great legs in practice. It just wasn't there.''
Idaho, hitting 29 percent from 3-point range heading into the game, hit six of 12 treys in the first half to take a 36-20 lead.
The Vandals hit just 39 percent from the floor overall, but got two first-half treys each from guards Rose and Shawn Dirden. You could tell things were destined to go Idaho's way when center Nate Gardner drained a 3-pointer - the first of his career - as time ran out in the first half.
Old Dominion, meanwhile, got almost nothing from the perimeter, going 1 for 7 from behind the arc in the first half.
The Monarchs cut Idaho's lead to six with 7:18 left in the half, but four minutes later the Vandals pushed it back to 14. The Monarchs shot just 36 percent, and were outrebounded 23-16. by CNB