
DATE: Tuesday, February 25, 1997            TAG: 9702250295

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   85 lines

HODGE SAVES HIS BEST FOR LAST AS ODU CLAIMS CO-TITLE, TOP SEED IN TOURNEY.

It was a classy exit, to be sure, and with it Old Dominion enters this weekend's Colonial Athletic Association tournament as the No. 1 seed.

Odell Hodge did the yeoman's work on Senior Night at Scope, matching his season high 29 points to lead Old Dominion to a 72-66 victory over James Madison in its regular-season finale. The Monarchs tied UNC Wilmington for first place, and all the right dominoes fell in conference action Monday to make ODU the tournament's top seed based on the tiebreaker system.

``We saved the best for last,'' Hodge said as he stood in the locker room with fellow senior E.J. Sherod. ``We couldn't write that no better, me and my counterpart here.''

The Monarchs (19-10, 10-6) open the tournament quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at the Richmond Coliseum against the winner of Friday night's 8-9 play-in game between Richmond and George Mason. The Dukes (14-12, 8-8) are the No. 6 seed and will play No. 3 East Carolina.

The top seed normally is a coveted position, but it lacks the usual significance in this season when just three games separated the first-place teams from the two who tied for seventh in the CAA. Prior to this year the most conference losses the CAA regular-season champion had ever suffered was four.

``The only thing that it means is that our managers don't have to worry about taking but one set of uniforms,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said. ``As long as we play, we're going to be in the white uniforms.''

Hodge closed out a storied ODU career in style, making 12 of 15 field goals and grabbing 10 rebounds for his 14th double-double this season. Save for one 6-foot jumper, all of Hodge's hoops were from point blank range. He scored on drives, layups, put-backs and even punctuated it with a two-handed slam dunk in the final 15 seconds.

Then he went to the bench while being serenaded by a standing ovation from the crowd, which included Hodge's parents. That was a rare treat, because Melvin Hodge has a series of physical ailments that prevent him from traveling to see his son play.

``You've gotta put on a good show for the parents,'' Hodge said.

``I thought Odell Hodge was tremendous,'' JMU coach Lefty Driesell said. ``I don't know why they picked us to come in here and play Odell's last game, because I knew he'd be pumped up. We just couldn't stop him.''

Capel's only concern was the emotion of the night might.

``He's been talking about this all day long,'' Capel said. ``He was by my office three or four times today telling me he's ready, he's ready. I thought he was a little too psyched up. If he was a football player or a wrestler, I probably would have been happy with his mental state prior to the game.''

The first half was a grinder, as both teams just kept trading punches. The lead changed hands 12 times before ODU's Mike Byers (16 points, four steals) dropped in a pair of 3-pointers in the final 90 seconds to give ODU a 35-29 halftime lead.

``We were hanging right in there with them, then he hit those two 3s and got them six up and we never could really get close enough to make it interesting,'' Driesell said.

``I was open, so I just took them,'' Byers said. ``I was a little upset I was disrespected because they were playing a box-and-1 (on Mark Poag) and left me completely open.''

ODU extended the lead to 44-33 with a 9-4 run to open the second half, and the Monarchs played with poise the rest of the way, maintaining a lead that fluctuated between six and 11 points to pull out their fourth-consecutive win.

Eugene Atkinson (19 points) and Lamont Boozer (18) led the Dukes, losers of three in a row. JMU shot 42.4 percent from the field compared with ODU's 59.6 percent.

``We wanted to finish the season with momentum going into the tournament,'' Sherod said.

The seniors got the exit line they wanted. ILLUSTRATION: [Color photo]

HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot

Old Dominion senior Odell Hodge earns a hug from Brion Dunlap after

closing out his final game at home with 29 points and 10 rebounds in

the Monarchs' 72-66 victory over James Madison. Watching on are

Freddie Bryant, left, and Mark Poag. ``I thought Odell Hodge was

tremendous,'' JMU coach Lefty Driesell said. ``I don't know why they

picked us to come in here and play Odell's last game, because I knew

he'd be pumped up. We just couldn't stop him.''

[Photo]

HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot