DATE: Wednesday, November 26, 1997          TAG: 9711260559

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   67 lines

POAG'S TREYS ADD UP TO ODU WIN MONARCHS' SHARPSHOOTER MADE 9 OF 9 TO EQUAL SCHOOL RECORD

Old Dominion University's Mark Poag drained every 3-pointer he took Tuesday night at Scope and buried Virginia Military Institute in the process.

Poag, ODU's 6-foot-6 junior sharpshooter, went 9 of 9 from behind the arc, equaling a school mark for made 3-pointers and setting a school record for 3-point percentage as the Monarchs downed VMI 84-69 at Scope.

Poag forced only one shot all night, a buzzer beater to close the evening. But he was under orders to take it.

``I knew he needed it to tie the record,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said. ``So with 18 seconds left and (VMI) at the line, I pulled the guys over and said, `No dunks, no layups. But if Mark can squeeze one off, let him take it.''

Poag slid off three screens at the foul line, collected a pass at the top of the key, ball-faked a defender and sank it.

As for VMI head coach Bart Bellairs, he said he could almost see this night coming. His pregame fortunes were the pits.

Two hours prior to tip-off he pulled a back muscle picking up his clothing bag. After receiving ultrasound treatment for an hour, he looked into his bag to discover he'd left his dress shoes at home. He broke his eye glasses while reaching for the telephone to call the team's bus driver to take him to a local shoe store.

When he got to the bus, he realized the bus driver's dress shoes were just a half-size bigger than his own, so they switched, Reeboks for wing tips.

With Poag leading the way, the Monarchs (2-1) bolted to a 15-0 lead. Specs or not, Bellairs saw it all and was ready to jump out of those shoes.

``We stressed to the team at breakfast, lunch and dinner not to let Poag get a look at the basket,'' Bellairs said. ``And he got three good looks in the first five minutes.''

Poag admitted it was his best shooting night ever, but added that it could have been better.

``You can always go 10 for 10,'' said Poag, who finished with 31 points and only missed a running 10-footer in the first half.

Poag's night of 3s tied A.C. Carver's ODU record, set nine years ago against George Washington at Scope. But it also bettered ODU's 3-point efficiency mark, previously held by Steve Trax who was 5 of 5 against DePaul 11 years ago in Chicago.

Despite building a 37-17 lead late in the first half, the Monarchs had to scrape to hold the Keydets at bay in the second half.

Behind some bold 3-point shooting of their own - VMI was 11 of 25 beyond the arc - the Keydets (1-2) cut ODU's lead to five twice, at 50-45 and 52-47. Guards Jason Bell and Darryl Faulkner led VMI with 22 and 18 points, respectively.

But ODU switched to a three-guard lineup, pulling Poag in favor of freshman Michael Williams, to counter VMI's three-guard set, then began pounding the ball inside to 6-10 junior Cal Bowdler and 6-9 junior Reggie Bassette.

Bassette finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Bowdler had 15 points and 10 rebounds and the Monarchs started thinking about turkey dinner and a Saturday date with Texas Tech.

Can Poag keep up this incredible shooting? In the last two games at Scope, he's 16 of 19 on 3-pointers after going 1 for 9 in an opening-game loss at Wright State.

``I've always shot pretty well at Scope,'' Poag said. ``It's our home floor. You've got to play well on it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

LAWRENCE JACKSON/The Virginian-Pilot

Michael Williams of Old Dominion reaches in and is called for a foul

against Darryl Faulkner of Virginia Military during second-half

action Tuesday at Scope.

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