THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602250226
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Old Dominion came into Saturday's game against American University looking to continue a late-season surge and gain more momentum for the Colonial Athletic Association tournament.
Instead, the Monarchs received an 83-74 loss that ended a four-game winning streak and had to settle for a lesson that coach Jeff Capel hopes will be beneficial in the tournament that begins Saturday in Richmond.
``I hope this is a wake-up call for our kids. ... and teaches them that you have to take everyone seriously,'' Capel said. ``If this happens to us in another week, we are done for the rest of the year.''
Capel described the loss as one of his team's poorest performances of the season, especially on defense.
``They beat us off the dribble on the perimeter, they beat us for loose balls. We had 13 turnovers in the first half, and probably 10 of those were unforced,'' Capel said.
Old Dominion (16-12, 11-4) never led and trailed, 59-46, midway through the second half before making a desperate scramble to salvage the victory.
With E.J. Sherod directing the offense, the Monarchs closed to within five points with 3:35 left.
But that was as close as they came as the Eagles (12-13, 8-7) held on by making 9 of 12 free throws in the final three minutes.
Old Dominion had beaten American 67-47 last month in Norfolk. Capel speculated his players may have expected another easy victory.
``They (American) shot 18 percent in the first half at our place. This was their building and we knew that wasn't going to happen again,'' Capel said.
``But I don't know if our kids really took them seriously.''
The Eagles, playing their final home game, certainly took Old Dominion seriously.
They took freshman Mark Poag, who had 26 and 27 points his last two outings, out of the game, both figuratively and literally.
Scoreless in the first half, Poag watched most of the second half from the bench and got his only two points with 34 seconds remaining on a layup.
American coach Chris Knoche said stopping Poag was a primary objective.
He said he was willing to give up 20-25 points to each of Old Dominion's inside scorers, Odell Hodge and Joe Bunn, but he wanted to shut down Poag.
``He (Poag) is such a weapon for them,'' said Knoche, who handed the defensive job to senior Duane Gilliam.
``I challenged (Gilliam) before the game and he came through for us, as he has all year.''
Gilliam said he hung close to Poag, ``trying to touch him at all times,'' to deny him the ball.
``Did he even get off a shot in the first half?'' asked American's Darryl Franklin.
Poag did get off two, but missed both.
Capel used Sherod more in the second half because, he said, ``Mark didn't look himself.''
It didn't help the Monarchs, either, that Hodge got into early foul trouble and sat out most of the first half, scoring only one point.
Bunn did his best to keep the Monarchs close with 10 first-half points, but American still led 36-25 at intermission.
ODU was more aggressive offensively to open the second half as Hodge and Bunn combined for eight goals in the first seven minutes.
The outburst trimmed the Eagles' lead to 46-40. Freshman David Small came off the bench to refresh American's lead with three quick inside goals.
But most of the damage against ODU was supplied by Gilliam, who scored 16 points, and two other seniors, Franklin (19 points) and Tim Fudd (15 points), who was playing his second game after a five-game suspension.
``They have several very athletic players who can step out and score, and that was a problem,'' Sherod admitted.
Bunn, who finished with a game-high 27 points, said he felt the Monarchs came out ``a little flat'' in the first half.
``It didn't help that Odell got into foul trouble, either,'' he added.
Old Dominion, which already had locked up the No. 2 seeding for the CAA tournament, plays its final regular-season game Monday against East Carolina at Scope. by CNB