DATE: Sunday, November 23, 1997             TAG: 9711230166

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   70 lines

UNEXPECTED BOOST BY BASSETTE BUOYS ODU

Mark Poag and Cal Bowdler shared the marquee and Reggie Bassette made a totally unexpected cameo appearance as Old Dominion University turned in a winning performance Saturday night at Scope.

Poag, ODU's 6-foot-6 swingman, drained seven 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 29 points while the 6-10 Bowdler handled inside duties, delivering 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocked shots in a 72-60 victory over Hampton University.

ODU, which hosts VMI Tuesday night, evened its record at 1-1 while the Pirates fell to 0-2.

The Monarchs were struggling offensively in the opening minutes, having made just 3 of their first 9 field goal attempts, when Bassette bounded off the bench with 13:27 left in the half, even though he had originally been expected to miss up to six weeks with a broken carpal bone in his right wrist, sustained on Nov. 8.

After Hampton's Treston Dowell buried a 3-pointer, ODU trailed 12-6. Two minutes later, Bassette threw down a dunk off a missed runner by Michael Williams and the Monarchs led 14-12. It was a lead they'd never relinquish.

``Reggie gave us a huge lift,'' said Poag. ``He's so athletic and he brings something to the floor that we need, just in the way he plays and dunks and moves.''

Poag provided the rest, going 6 of 8 from 3-point land in the first half as ODU went to the locker room with a 37-24 advantage.

It was sweet redemption for the junior, who was 1 of 9 from behind the bonus stripe in ODU's season-opening loss at Wright State.

``He certainly balanced that out,'' Hampton coach Steve Merfeld said. ``That was a great first half by ODU of finding (Poag) and getting him shots in transition.''

The second half belonged to Bowdler, who repeatedly muscled the ball to the basket and highlighted the half with a rim-rattling dunk on a fast break that gave ODU a 55-45 lead with 8:13 left. It was part of an All-Bowdler 11-point scoring spree that came as the Pirates cut ODU's lead to 50-45 on a Greg Brown 3-pointer, one of eight in his 29-point performance.

``They did a good job there of recognizing that the jumpers weren't falling and going to Cal on the block,'' Merfeld said. ``It's a good thing for us that our conference (MEAC) isn't filled with 6-10 big men like ODU has.''

A Bowdler hook shot gave ODU a 59-49 lead with 6:18 remaining and the game unraveled for the Pirates a little more than a minute later when Ramont Hawkins fouled ODU's Brion Dunlap, then was called for a technical foul.

Dunlap, who had 12 points and 12 assists, made all four free throws and Poag buried his final 3-pointer - he was 7 of 10 from bonus land for the game - with three seconds on the shot clock to make it a seven-point play.

Bassette's appearance came after an 11th-hour decision by ODU's medical staff. The 6-9 junior played with a thick, protective brace on his wrist, but showed no ill effect, scoring six points and grabbing seven rebounds in just 15 minutes of action.

``Our trainer (Scott Johnson) let Reggie scrimmage with the team the other day to convince him that he wasn't ready to play yet,'' said ODU coach Jeff Capel. ``Instead, he caught a bullet pass without a problem, threw down a hard dunk and caught himself with his right hand when he fell.

``Our orthopedic surgeon gave him the green light 30 minutes before game time.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

L. TODD SPENCER/The Virginian-Pilot

ODU's Brion Dunlap got hit with an offensive foul after Hampton

University's Greg Brown went to the floor Saturday night at Scope.

Photo

L. TODD SPENCER

Reggie Bassette...

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