THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 19, 1997 TAG: 9702190554
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 96 lines
In some respects, Old Dominion's basketball team will be the home team but a visitor as well in its next two games.
The circus is at Scope, which means the Monarchs' show moves to the ODU field house tonight against American and Saturday against George Mason. The Monarchs play at the field house just a couple of times a year and almost never practice there, working out instead in their practice facility at the Intercollegiate Athletics Building. ODU was scheduled to get 45 minutes in the field house Tuesday.
ODU coach Jeff Capel said he's been to a couple of Lady Monarchs games at the field house this year and has been impressed by the atmosphere on campus.
``Hopefully we can have the same environment at our games,'' Capel said.
ODU beat Tennessee State in the field house early this year, improving its overall record in the building to 90-8 (.918). That's better than the Monarchs' all-time 195-77 (.717) record at Scope, which has served as their primary home court since the 1977-78 season. ODU had won 28 consecutive games at the field house prior to a 1993 loss to Richmond, and has won six in a row there since.
RACE FOR POSTERITY: The Colonial Athletic Association standings continue to be muddled, with only three games separating the first from the eighth-place teams. The seedings in the conference tournament will mean little this year.
But for UNC Wilmington, holding onto the top spot in the league would mean plenty. The Seahawks, who have a one-half game lead and remaining games with Virginia Commonwealth and at East Carolina, have never won the league.
``Going into the last week and having the opportunity to play for first, it's something that never crossed our mind in the preseason or even in the early going,'' UNC Wilmington coach Jerry Wainwright said. ``This is a program that's never done that. It gives you a launching pad for the future.
``I think (getting to) last year's tournament final meant something to us. It means something in recruiting, it means something in fund-raising, and those are two things that are important.
``We're a young program, and we have to have credibility. Certainly our kids would relish the thought of going through a regular season and coming out No. 1. I think it would mean a lot to our kids and a lot to our community to do that.''
AMERICAN RESURGENCE: American was 0-4 in the CAA the first time it played Old Dominion, but upset the Monarchs and has won seven of its last 10 games. Though Eagles coach Chris Knoche said ODU's size presents matchup problems for his team, American can present matchup problems as well with a starting lineup of essentially four forwards and plucky point guard Nathan Smith, who rang up ODU for 23 points in the first meeting.
Smith (17 points per game), Thomas Treadwell (15.4) and Dave Small (12.3) are all among the CAA's top 10 scorers. No other team has more than one player in the top 10. The Eagles have more bulk inside than they have had in previous years, and Small and Treadwell are good ballhandlers for their size on the wing.
``We have some guys with Small and Treadwell playing the wings and Nate Smith, who's not your every day run-of-the-mill type point guard,'' Knoche said. ``He's very offensive minded. He's one of those guys who's a little bigger than you think and a little more athletic than you think. Those guys give us some advantages wherever they play.''
TIP-INS: William and Mary has won four in a row to improve to 7-6 in the CAA, the most conference wins for the Tribe since it went 9-5 in the ECAC South in 1985. . . . East Carolina has dropped four conference games in a row to fall to sixth place, two games out of first. Pirates' center Jonathan Kerner has missed two games with a broken hand and forward Tim Basham has lost about 12 pounds and missed three games because of a severe case of the flu. Basham is expected to be back Saturday, while Kerner is out indefinitely. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
OLD DOMINION GAMEWATCH
AMERICAN at ODU
Site: ODU field house (4,855)
Time: 7:35 p.m.
TV: None
Radio: WGH 1310-AM
Tickets: $10 and $8 for adults, $8 and $6 for children
17-and-younger, faculty, staff, senior citizens and military. Groups
of 10 or more $5 each. Students with ODU ID card get in free.
Records: American 10-13, 6-7 CAA; Old Dominion 16-10, 7-6
About the Eagles: American has been formidable at home, but is
just 2-10 on the road this season. The Eagles have lost their last
four trips to Norfolk. The Eagles are in seventh place in the CAA,
but just a game behind ODU, tied for fourth. Nathan Smith (17 ppg),
Thomas Treadwell (15.4 ppg) and Dave Small (12.3 ppg) account for 66
percent of the Eagles' offense. American is last in the CAA in field
goal percentage defense (.453) and eighth in scoring defense (70.5
ppg allowed).
About the Monarchs: This is the second of four home games to
close out the regular season for the Monarchs. Forward Odell Hodge
(17.3 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.7 bpg) leads ODU, but in recent games the
Monarchs have received scoring boosts from unlikely sources.
Sophomore Cal Bowdler averaged 17 ppg and 9 rpg in two games last
week, while Brion Dunlap has had career highs in two of his last
three games, 19 in his last outing.