DATE: Monday, March 3, 1997                 TAG: 9703030173

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Bob Molinaro 

                                            LENGTH:   61 lines

FORGET REVENGE, ODU JUST WANTED TO STAY ALIVE

RICHMOND - When the game was over, and Old Dominion had finally beaten down William and Mary for the first time in three encounters, somebody wondered if the Monarchs were motivated by the spirit of revenge.

``Not revenge,'' guard Brion Dunlap said following ODU's 70-62 victory in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament semifinals. ``It just happened to be William and Mary we were playing. We wanted to play another game. That's all we were thinking about, playing again.''

As motivation, revenge pales in comparison with the desire to play one more game, especially when that game takes you to the brink of the NCAA tournament.

``I remember what a great feeling it was,'' Dunlap said, recalling ODU's visit to the 1995 NCAAs. ``I hope some of the younger guys get to experience that.''

With a victory tonight over James Madison, they will.

ODU is one game away from its second NCAA tournament berth in three years.

Revenge or not, William and Mary was a huge hurdle for ODU, though why the Tribe posed a riddle for the Monarchs is anybody's guess.

ODU is quicker, bigger and deeper than William and Mary. Apparently, nobody bothered to tell Charlie Woollum's team.

``ODU was better than us,'' Woollum said, ``but I promise you they know they had a battle out there.''

William and Mary was an intriguing story the second half of the season. But in recent weeks, Woollum has tired of the backhanded compliments.

``We were a good basketball team at the end of the year,'' he said, ``not just a good William and Mary basketball team.''

Give the Tribe its due; the Williamsburg Wonders contributed a unique, fun story-line to a tournament that needs all the help it can get.

Said Dunlap: ``Their team has a great deal of heart. We had to match their toughness and their heart.''

Measured against the mega-hyped hoops of the ACC and Big East, the CAA clambake won't get Dick Vitale's pulse racing.

The crowds at the Coliseum have been discouraging. But what the CAA lacks in aesthetics and attendance, it tries to make up for in heart.

Unlike the ACC or Big East greedfests, every game counts in the CAA tournament. Nobody here has the luxury of a false step. At-large tournament berths are reserved for more glamorous conferences. Lose here and your team vanishes from NCAA radar.

As a result, the CAA tournament usually manages to serve up compelling, gritty fare.

This year for the first time, the CAA menu included the women's tournament. As expected, the Lady Monarchs turned the competition into a coronation. With its victory Sunday over East Carolina, ODU has won 19 CAA games by an average margin of 43 points.

This sort of dominance deserves our applause. But the men, with their funky finishes, provide a much better show.

CAA men's basketball offers balance, not brilliance, so that even William and Mary played with an eye on the prize.

``We had all our hopes on winning this tournament,'' said Woollum, ``just like everybody else.''

But now, only James Madison and ODU can win it in a scenario that even a jaded ACC fan might appreciate. ``It's the reason you play basketball,'' said Dunlap. ``To cut down the nets.''

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