THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 10, 1996 TAG: 9601100560
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Old Dominion coach Jeff Capel did not mince words after Virginia Commonwealth embarrassed the Monarchs Saturday in their Colonial Athletic Association opener.
He used words like ``manhandled,'' ``dominated'' and ``intimidated'' to describe ODU's performance in an 85-70 loss to the Rams, who outrebounded the Monarchs 45-28.
``They're tougher than we are, that's the bottom line,'' Capel said.
Now the question is are the Monarchs tough enough for UNC-Wilmington? The Seahawks have the closest thing in the league to VCU's front line, with a bevy of big men up front.
``The main thing we have to do is compete on the glass,'' Capel said. ``VCU manhandled us on the glass, and we're going to go up against a team very similar in size. Any team that has dominant inside players seems to give us problems.''
The Seahawks' 6-foot-11 center Preston McGriff, however, apparently will not be at full strength. Coach Jerry Wainwright said McGriff suffered from anemia that caused him to drop from 262 pounds to 238 in about two months. With supplements and vitamins, McGriff got back to about 244.
Then he caught the flu.
``I don't know what his status is for Wednesday; he's been pretty sick this week,'' Wainwright said.
MULLEN ON SHELF: Monarch senior forward Mario Mullen will miss tonight's game with a back injury he sustained in a game at the Sacramento tournament Dec. 28.
ODU trainer Scott Johnson said Mullen probably had a reoccurrence of the back injury suffered in 1993 when he was in an automobile accident. Surgery was required to repair a ruptured disc. Johnson said the disc is not ruptured this time, but inflammation will cause Mullen to miss his third consecutive game tonight.
``He is improving, though, and that's a good sign,'' Johnson said. ``We're trying to wait for that inflammation to go down so he can get back.''
The Monarchs are hopeful Mullen - a senior forward averaging 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds - will be back in action Saturday when they play at Richmond.
WEATHER WOES: The blizzard that hit the East Coast has wreaked havoc on CAA schedules, including postponement of tonight's James Madison at American game. On Monday, Iona at American and William and Mary at The Citadel were both postponed.
Iona-American apparently will be played Feb. 15. To make that possible, a VCU at American game scheduled for Feb. 14 will be played a day earlier. William and Mary-The Citadel has not been rescheduled yet. Tribe coach Charlie Woollum bemoaned the scheduling headache because his team has played just nine games since opening the season 6 1/2 weeks ago, but has 17 games remaining to play in less than seven weeks.
``We need to play games,'' Woollum said. ``We just flat out couldn't get there.''
RUNNING ON EMPTY: Things aren't getting better for George Mason in the third year of the Paul Westhead experiment. The program - known for playing at breakneck speed - is losing players faster than it's losing games.
Last week, leading scorer Nate Langley (21.9 points per game) and Kevin Ward (6.6 points) were declared academically ineligible, a week after senior starter and leading rebounder G.C. Marcaccini left the team to concentrate on getting his degree.
How do you adjust to three key losses in midseason?
``You kind of keep moving players around until you find a combination that seems to work,'' Westhead said.
Westhead is looking forward to the addition of junior college transfer Demetrius Somerville, a 3-point shooter who hasn't played because of a broken jaw that has been wired shut and caused him to lose about 25 pounds.
Westhead said there's a chance Ward and Langley will be able to return this season if they can complete some work. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ODU coach Jeff Capel
by CNB