DATE: Saturday, March 1, 1997               TAG: 9703010621

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   89 lines

STREAKING ODU CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC MONARCHS COME INTO CAA TOURNEY RIDING FOUR-GAME WINNING STREAK.

Old Dominion enters Colonial Athletic Association tournament play today with two important personality traits forged in the last five weeks of the regular season.

The Monarchs are humble enough to know nothing can be taken for granted, but confident enough to believe they could be cutting down the nets Monday night at the Richmond Coliseum.

The Monarchs begin that quest today at 2:30 p.m. when they meet Richmond, an 85-57 play-in game winner Friday over George Mason.

ODU (19-10) earned its dose of humility with losses in six of seven games that dropped the Monarchs into a tie for fifth place in the league just three weeks ago. The confidence comes from a season-ending four-game winning streak that pulled the Monarchs into a tie for first place with UNC Wilmington.

Old Dominion coach Jeff Capel said in the last two weeks there was ``not one thing, just a lot of little things made the difference for us.''

The biggest of the little things:

ODU finally started getting some leadership from its upperclassmen, particularly junior point guard Brion Dunlap. Capel said the coaches met with Dunlap and seniors Odell Hodge and E.J. Sherod during the slump and challenged them to be more assertive.

``It's been led mainly by Brion,'' Capel said. ``He's the player who has the most game experience under me, under our system. It should be him.

``I think he deferred earlier because of the two seniors, but he's really started to assert himself now. I think that's altered the reserved, laid-back way of Odell and E.J. They are now more vocal and more demanding in practice of their teammates.''

Dunlap, who quarterbacked his high school football team, said the coaches had implored him all season to be more of a signal caller for his basketball team.

``There was no better time to do it than during that rough stretch,'' Dunlap said. ``I stepped up my game a little more. Everyone else followed me in that aspect.''

Dunlap, the leading assist man in the CAA, became more of an offensive threat down the stretch, averaging eight points the last six games, including career-highs of 18 and 19 points.

Sophomore Cal Bowdler emerged as a scoring, rebounding and defensive presence inside. That, along with Dunlap's increased offensive production, opened things up more for ODU's leading point producers Hodge, Mark Poag and Mike Byers. Bowdler averaged 10.1 points and 7.4 points in the last five games while shooting 58 percent from the field.

Hodge finished with a flourish, averaging 22.2 points in his last four games and earning CAA Player of the Year honors. While Hodge was tearing it up inside, Byers and Poag played some of their most consistent perimeter games of the season.

When ODU's inside-outside game is clicking, it's tough to beat. The Monarchs averaged 83 points and shot 51 percent from the field during the winning streak.

``Everyone's playing well,'' Capel said. ``Guys stepped up. We need that to continue.''

The biggest question raised about the Monarchs this season - which Capel repeatedly referred to during the swoon - was about their heart. After a loss at William and Mary, Capel decried the team's lack of toughness, and he wondered whether ODU was too nice.

The four-game winning streak came at home. So the big question is can ODU demonstrate toughness and heart on a neutral court if things begin to go awry.

Capel said he's seen a degree of toughness lately in practice that wasn't there before. But given the opportunity, he stopped short of declaring ODU healed of its heart condition.

How about it, Brion, does ODU have the toughness it lacked just a few weeks ago?

``I guess we do,'' Dunlap said. ``I hope everyone will bring out their own toughness.

``With the confidence we have from the way we've been playing, if we were to get down I think we'd be able to bring the toughness out.''

Everyone in the CAA knows there is no easy opponent in this tournament. The league is characterized by parity, with eight of the nine teams finishing the conference race within three games of each other.

Hodge said there was a time after the Monarchs raced to a 13-3 overall record and 4-0 league start when they thought the CAA was going to be a breeze. The swoon taught them that was faulty logic.

``We hope everyone can continue to play with the momentum and confidence we're playing with right now,'' Hodge said. ``We can't take a night off.'' ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS

ODU sophomore Cal Bowdler has averaged 10.1 points and 7.4 points in

the last five games while shooting 58 percent from the field.

ODU TEAM STATISTICS

VP GRAPHIC

[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu