THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 3, 1996 TAG: 9601030539
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
Odell Hodge has been known for many things during his Old Dominion basketball career.
Seventeen-foot jumpers is not one of them.
Old Dominion's burly 6-foot-9 junior center hit from the right wing with eight-tenths of a second remaining Tuesday to give the Monarchs a 62-60 victory over St. Joseph's at Scope. It was the final nonconference tuneup for ODU (5-7), which opens Colonial Athletic Association play Saturday against Virginia Commonwealth with a nearly identical record to last season's 5-8 mark heading into the conference.
St. Joe's Rashid Bey tied the game with 10.5 seconds left on a 10-foot baseline jumper. The Monarchs had timeouts remaining, but pushed the ball upcourt without stopping the clock. Point guard Brion Dunlap drove across the lane and drew the defense to him, and Hodge flashed to the wing, where he was left wide open.
``I've seen him hit a lot of 17-footers, but not with that kind of pressure,'' teammate Joe Bunn said. ``Maybe a couple of times when we were playing one-on-one and he lucked out.''
Hodge said he practices the shot regularly, but had never made one during a game in crunch time before.
Asked if he thought it was good when it left his hand, Hodge replied: ``Pretty much. . . . Big men aren't supposed to shoot like that.''
Hodge, who scored 13 points, has shot well in the last six games (35 of 56, 63 percent). But the bulk of those attempts come from right around the hoop.
``Before you ask, the play at the end was exactly as I drew it up,'' coach Jeff Capel deadpanned.
Hawks coach Phil Martelli said his team played good defense during the final sequence.
``Hodge made a tough shot; what are you going to do?'' Martelli said.
The victory was a momentum builder for the Monarchs heading into the CAA, which they were picked to win. VCU was picked second.
``We wanted to go into the conference on a high,'' said Bunn, who had 19 Tuesday on 6 of 8 shooting from the field and 7 of 8 from the line. ``St. Joe's was a tough team, as tough as anybody in our conference. It was very important to get this win, especially on our home floor.''
The Monarchs got it without starter Mario Mullen, who is nursing an ailing back. That enabled another freshman, reserve Cal Bowdler, to play his most significant minutes of the season. Bowdler was solid with three points, three assists and three rebounds in 18 minutes.
The Monarchs have won three of their last four, and Capel has been pleased with their play in each of the last five except for a lackluster performance in a loss to Idaho.
The game with St. Joe's (4-3) wasn't pretty, but Capel called it one of ODU's best from a competitive standpoint this season.
Freshman Mike Byers scored 13 points, and freshman Skipper Youngblood started and had eight, making both field goals and all four free throws. Bunn and Hodge led ODU with eight rebounds apiece.
The Monarchs shot 50 percent from the field compared with 39.6 percent for the Hawks, who were led in scoring by Will Johnson and Mark Bass with 11 apiece.
Hodge played without a brace on his left knee for the first time this season. Thursday marked one year since surgery to repair his torn anterior cruciate ligament, and the doctor cleared him to play without the brace. Hodge had been practicing without it sometimes in the last couple weeks to build up to the time when he could ditch it.
``Hallelujah,'' Hodge said. ``It feels good. I've been wanting to get out of that for a while now.'' ILLUSTRATION: RICHARD L. DUNSTON
The Virginian-Pilot
ODU freshman guard Mike Byers moves by St. Joseph's Rashid Bey
Tuesday night at Scope. Byers finished with 13 points.
RICHARD L. DUNSTON
The Virginian-Pilot
ODU's Odell Hodge shoots over a St Joseph's defender Tuesday night.
Hodge later made the game-winning shot.
by CNB