THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 4, 1996 TAG: 9602040228
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Virginia Commonwealth, which beat Old Dominion with its muscle last month, used speed and athleticism to do it Saturday.
The Rams seized control of the Colonial Athletic Association race with an 85-76 overtime victory at the Richmond Coliseum. VCU (16-7, 9-1), winners of six in a row, has a two-game lead over both ODU and East Carolina with six games to play.
The Monarchs scrapped back from an eight-point deficit with 4 1/2 minutes remaining and had a chance to win it in regulation. But ODU (12-10, 7-3) failed to get off a shot after VCU's Sherman Hamilton made a leaning 10-footer over Brion Dunlap to tie the game at 65-65 with 2.2 seconds left.
``He made a tough shot,'' Dunlap said. ``He used the glass well. I stayed right there and held my ground.''
Dunlap had a chance to give ODU a three-point lead with 16.4 seconds left, but he made just 1 of 2 free throws for a 65-63 Monarch lead.
``I just wish we'd have been up by three,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said. ``It would have changed everything.''
After Hamilton's basket, ODU had got the ball to midcourt and called time with 1.6 seconds left. E.J. Sherod threw an in-bound pass into the lane, where the ball squirted off Odell Hodge's hands as a host of bodies converged.
Hamilton (game-high 17 points) made a 3-pointer to open the overtime, and the Monarchs made three turnovers in their first four possessions to fall behind 74-67 with two minutes remaining in the extra period. VCU made 9 of 13 free throws in the final 2:10 to wrap it up.
``We had a chance to win the in game in regulation,'' Capel said. ``I think we lost it in regulation. In overtime, they flat out beat us.''
ODU led by three at halftime, but in the second half the Rams beat the Monarchs down the court routinely for fast-break baskets and slashing moves to the hoop. VCU shot 60 percent from the field in the second half and overtime.
``We told them at halftime we really want to get it up-tempo,'' VCU coach Sonny Smith said. ``We beat their big guys down the court a little bit and that really helped.
``This is a nice win for us. That's good that we can win a game when we're outrebounded.''
The Monarchs, outrebounded by 17 in their first game with VCU, had a 40-32 advantage on the glass against the nation's seventh-best rebounding team Saturday. But ODU made 21 turnovers and scored just 10 points at the line compared with 21 by the Rams.
Hodge and Mark Poag led four Monarchs in double figures with 16 points. But Western Branch's Ivan Chappell made Poag work harder for his shots in the second half after he hit four 3-pointers in the first half, and Hodge, a 57-percent shooter, made 6 of 14 from the field.
``We did a good job doubling down on their post people,'' Smith said.
The loss snapped ODU's four-game winning streak and dropped the Monarchs to 0-2 against VCU this season. They are hoping to get a third shot in the CAA conference tournament title game on this court a month from today.
``I know we can play with these guys,'' Hodge said. by CNB