Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 12, 1993 TAG: 9312120173
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
Sessoms made a rare four-point play with 44 seconds remaining as the Monarchs rallied for a 76-69 victory over No. 22 Virginia.
"Right away it was like a big load had been lifted off my shoulders," said Sessoms, who came into the game averaging 22 points but finished 1-for-8 from the field.
Unranked Old Dominion was a 7 1/2-point favorite, in part because of its home-court advantage and UVa's struggles since losing point guard Cory Alexander to an injury in the first game.
The Cavaliers (3-2) led most of the way, however, as junior forward Junior Burrough scored a career-high 29 points, 18 in the second half, and grabbed 14 rebounds.
UVa did not relinquish the lead until the Monarchs' Mike Jones put up a 3-point shot that went in the basket, spun out, hit the backboard and then caromed back through the net with 1:38 left.
A basket by Burrough cut the deficit to 67-66 before Jones set a screen for Sessoms, who was following through from the right wing when UVa forward Cornel Parker came crashing into him.
"I saw him coming, but I still concentrated," said Sessoms, who said he was not aware that he had failed to score a field goal until that point.
Parker certainly knew.
"I had gotten caught inside trying to help out against a drive," said Parker, playing with a mask to protect two facial fractures. "I wasn't trying to (foul) him."
Parker, who played nearby at Maury High School, had a chance to cut the gap when he was fouled by Jones on a desperation 3-pointer, but he made only one of three free throws with 35 seconds left.
"It makes [the loss] worse when it happens in front of friends and family," Parker said. "We couldn't bury them, and the longer they stayed in the game, the more confidence they got."
The Monarchs (5-0) trailed 55-48 before calling a timeout with 9:59 left. Jones scored seven points, including a 3-pointer, during a 10-3 Old Dominion run that made it 58-58 with 6:45 left.
"Sessoms is an outstanding shooter - don't get me wrong - but in some ways Jones is tougher to guard because he'll take it to the basket as well as shoot the 3-pointer," UVa coach Jeff Jones said.
Mike Jones, a 6-foot-5 junior, does not start but ranks third on the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game. He had 14 points in 19 minutes Saturday night, including 12 points in the second half.
High scorer for the Monarchs was center Odell Hodge, a sophomore from Laurel Park High School. Hodge had 23 points, including 5-of-5 free-throw shooting in the second half, and a team-high nine rebounds.
The Monarchs shot 75 percent (18-of-24) from the free-throw line, but the Cavaliers hit only 58.8 percent (10-of-17). Freshman point guard Harold Deane missed his last three, including two one-and-ones in the second half.
Deane also made only two of 13 shots from the field and took an off-balance, fadeaway jumper from the right baseline when Jones wanted a higher-percentage shot with the score 64-64.
"I don't want to single out Harold or anybody else," Jones said. "Old Dominion is a very fine team, but when you let an opportunity slip through your fingers like that, it's very hard to take.
"I was concerned with the turnovers, but I was more concerned with the decisions we made. To illustrate my point, Junior took 26 shots [from the field] and we probably should have gotten him 30 . . . plus."
It was only the second time in five years that Virginia has played an in-state opponent on its home court, and a sellout crowd of 10,200 was waiting for the Cavaliers and mobbed the Monarchs at the final buzzer.
Parker said he did not expect to be booed when introduced for his first college game in Norfolk, "but it's a college game," he said, "and they were acting like normal college students."
It was ODU's first victory over a ranked opponent since the 1985-86 season, when it beat Western Kentucky twice and Richmond when they were in the Top 20.
"This was an outstanding win for our program," said Monarchs coach Oliver Purnell, previously 0-5 against ACC teams at Radford and Old Dominion. "It was a hard-fought game, but anything that is worth anything is hard to come by."
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB