THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 1, 1997 TAG: 9701010450
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO LENGTH: 62 lines
In the breakfast game at the San Juan Holiday Classic, Old Dominion used pressure defense to eat Southeast Missouri State's lunch Tuesday morning, cruising to a 74-61 win in front of about 50 witnesses at the American University of Puerto Rico.
The game tipped off at 10 a.m. Puerto Rico time, and by 10:01, ODU (8-3) had an 8-0 lead.
The Monarchs had to scramble a bit, however. Southeast Missouri (3-7) clawed back in it, and led 48-46, with 10:40 to play.
ODU responded with a three-guard lineup that not only handled Southeast Missouri's pressure, but put the squeeze on the Indians as well.
ODU outscored Southeast Missouri 28-13 the rest of the way.
The Monarchs will meet Mississippi State at 7 p.m. in the fifth-place game. The Bulldogs beat Fresno State 62-60.
It will be the second meeting in two weeks between the teams. The Monarchs blew a 15-point lead and lost to Mississippi State 80-73 on Dec. 19.
It was not the first time ODU has had trouble holding a lead, and that made Tuesday's outcome encouraging, coach Jeff Capel said.
``It was a game of runs,'' Capel said. ``It was really good to see our team give up a lead and then respond in a positive way,'' Capel said.
The key to the turnaround was a lineup that included starting guards Brion Dunlap and Mike Byers, as well as reserve guard E.J. Sherod. The 6-foot-4 Sherod actually played power forward, where his quickness and ballhandling skills gave the Indians trouble.
Sherod scored just nine points, but seven of them came in the final 6:54. His presence out on the wing also opened up things inside for power forward Odell Hodge, who had been getting double-teamed.
``That's what E.J. gives us, that versatility,'' Hodge said. ``That lineup gave us some quickness, and we needed it.''
Hodge finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Byars had 17 and Mark Poag 15.
Poag also shot his way out of a mini-slump. He was 2 of 10 in Monday's loss to Nebraska, and was 1 of 6 at halftime Tuesday. Poag hit 4 of 7 from 3-point range in the second half, including one that gave ODU the lead for good with 10:15 left.
``I don't ever consider myself in a slump,'' Poag said. ``I always figure I'll make the next one. The only way for me to make shots is to keep putting them up.''
The Monarchs shot just 37 percent, but Southeast Missouri hit just 40 percent, and was forced into 20 turnovers by ODU's pressure.
``We saw Cincinnati's press bothered them a little bit,'' Capel said. ``We're not Cincinnati, but we felt we could use it to get ourselves going.''
ODU got off to the quick 8-0 start, and led 19-8 before Southeast Missouri went on a 12-0 run. ODU grabbed a seven-point lead at the half, however, and pulled away in the final 10 minutes.
Free throw shooting was a big reason why. After going 14 of 27 from the free throw line against Nebraska, ODU hit 9 of 10 from the line in the final 2:20 Tuesday.
``This is one of the first games where we won both halves,'' Dunlap said.
Added Sherod: ``We wanted to prove to ourselves we could play 40 minutes of good, aggressive basketball together.'
The win snaps a two-game losing streak. ODU had also lost three of its last four.
It also prevented ODU from going oh-for-Puerto Rico.