THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 2, 1997 TAG: 9701020178
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO LENGTH: 76 lines
It couldn't possibly happen twice.
But it nearly did.
Old Dominion, which blew a 15-point lead in a loss to Mississippi State two weeks ago, watched a 17-point lead disappear at the hands of the same Bulldogs on Wednesday night in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.
This time, ODU came away with a 72-71 overtime victory, thanks in large part to the clutch free-throw shooting of E.J. Sherod, who scored a career-high 21 points, including six straight free throws in overtime.
``It was a battle,' Sherod said. ``We thought it was pretty much over, and we played like it.''
It was one of the strangest games anyone had seen. By the time Derrick Jones' 3-point attempt bounced away at the buzzer, preserving ODU's victory, there weren't more than 30 fans in the American University of Puerto Rico gym.
While Mississippi State coach Richard Williams argued, looking for a goaltending call, ODU escaped to the locker room.
``This game of college basketball is crazy,'' ODU guard Brion Dunlap said. ``A lot of crazy things happen.''
You'll see few crazier than this one. With 4:33 left in regulation, ODU led 55-38.
After four Bulldogs free throws cut the margin to 55-42, Mississippi State's Bart Hyche, who had not scored, hit four consecutive 3-pointers to almost singlehandedly send the game into overtime.
ODU (9-3) began the overtime with three of its four big men having fouled out. And when 6-foot-10 forward Cal Bowdler fouled out with 1:01 remaining in overtime, ODU was left with no player over 6-6 on the floor.
Before Bowdler's exit, however, he hit a 3-pointer that turned out to be crucial. With 3:26 remaining, the sophomore hit a trey from the left side that gave ODU a 64-61 lead.
ODU still wasn't out of the woods. Yet another Hyche 3-pointer gave the Bulldogs a 71-68 lead with 35 seconds left. But Mike Byars made a driving layup to cut it to 71-70 with 28 seconds to go. Sherod drew an offensive foul just one second later and hit two free throws. Hyche missed a runner with five seconds remaining, and Jones missed the heave at the buzzer.
``I just had to go up there and concentrate because I was exhausted,'' Sherod said.
ODU had to be a little stunned as well. Only 13 days earlier, the Bulldogs had rallied from 15 back with 13:48 left to win 80-73 in Starkville, Miss. A carbon-copy loss might have been devastating for an ODU team that has done a poor job holding leads all season.
Coach Jeff Capel preferred to focus on the bottom line.
``It would have been tough to lose, but to win in the situation we were in was sweet,'' he said. ``I don't care about them coming from 17 back. I don't even want to talk about that. To win the way we did, with five guards on the floor, was sweet.''
The win gave ODU fifth place in the eight-team tournament. They lost to Nebraska on Monday and beat Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday.
``We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish,'' Capel said.
But probably not in the manner they wanted. The Monarchs looked to be in complete command for 35 minutes. Before Hyche went on his spree, the Bulldogs had made just seven field goals.
Mississippi State stayed within striking distance at the line. As fouls began mounting up, Capel had to reach to his bench, where he got a career-high nine points from Skipper Youngblood and a solid five points and four rebounds from Freddie Bryant.
ODU used an aggressive man-to-man defense that held Mississippi State to 11 percent shooting in the first half. The Bulldogs, who made a school-record 14 3-pointers in their win over ODU two weeks ago, didn't have one until the 5-11 Hyche caught fire.
``He just got going,'' Capel said. ``When he gets going, he's impossible to defend.''
Hyche finished with 18 points. Webster had 21 before fouling out in overtime.
Byers had 11 for ODU. Leading scorer Odell Hodge had just nine, and shooting guard Mark Poag didn't score.