Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 6, 1994 TAG: 9403060199
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
Hodge, a 6-foot-9 sophomore center from Laurel Park High School who was chosen Friday night as the CAA's player of the year, scored 14 as the Monarchs (19-8) raced to a 22-14 lead.
William and Mary (4-23) got no closer than six in what may have been coach Chuck Swenson's last game after a seven-year tenure that included just one winning season. Swenson, whose contract is up, is to meet with school officials in the near future to discuss his status.
Old Dominion dominated the rebounding and built a 43-30 lead after a first half in which the Tribe didn't get its first offensive rebound until there was 6 minutes, 37 seconds left.
William and Mary, which had just two offensive rebounds in the first half, couldn't handle Old Dominion's press in the second half and fell behind by 33 points on the way to losing to the Monarchs for the 20th time in 21 meetings.
Petey Sessoms added 17 points for Old Dominion, which has won 14 of 18 since dropping four in a row in December.
Carl Parker had 15 points for William and Mary, and Kurt Small added 14.
Old Dominion finished with a 50-35 rebounding edge and forced 17 turnovers. The Monarchs limited William and Mary to just seven offensive rebounds.
Old Dominion held the Tribe scoreless for nearly eight minutes early in the second half to build a 69-36 advantage with 10:03 left.\ Richmond 58\ East Carolina 55
Michael Hodges scored 22 points, including six of Richmond's last nine, and the Spiders defeated the Pirates in the opening round.
Fourth-seeded Richmond (14-13) won for the eighth time in 10 games and advanced to today's semifinals against top-seeded Old Dominion.
Fifth-seeded East Carolina (15-12) made just two field goals in the last 11-plus minutes and lost to Richmond for the ninth time in 10 games.
The Pirates were hoping to duplicate their success from a year ago, when they won the CAA as the seventh seed and advanced to the NCAA Tournament with a losing record. Instead, they had to settle for their winningest season since 1982-83.
There were six ties and two lead changes in the second half before Hodges put the Spiders ahead to stay on a short jumper in the lane that made it 53-51 with 2:29 remaining.
Richmond pushed its edge to 56-52 on a free throw by Eugene Burroughs with 30.2 seconds left.
The Pirates cut it to 56-55 on a pair of free throws by Lester Lyons with 15.9 seconds to go, but they failed to hustle back on defense, leading to a slam dunk by Richmond's Derrick Wall that sealed it at the 10.5-second mark.
Lyons lost control of the ball as he was trying for a 3-pointer in the waning seconds.
Richmond also got a season-high 17 points from freshman Damon Bacote.
Anton Gill led East Carolina with 23 points and Lyons finished with 14. \ James Madison 86\ American 67
Louis Rowe, Michael Venson and Kareem Robinson fueled a second-half surge that carried the Dukes past the Eagles.
Clayton Ritter had 20 points and 14 rebounds as the second-seeded Dukes (18-9) kept alive their hopes of finally capitalizing in the tournament. James Madison has either won or tied for the CAA regular-season title in each of the last five years but has yet to win the tournament.
Seventh-seeded American (8-19) came in having won three of four games but ran into a pair of shooting slumps.
The score was tied at 22 when the Eagles went into a drought in which they missed eight of their last 10 field-goal attempts of the first half. American also committed seven of its 12 first-half turnovers in the skid, allowing James Madison to close the period with an 18-7 run for a 40-29 lead.
The closest American got the rest of the way was 50-44 on a three-point play by Tim Fudd with 14:10 remaining.
But Rowe, Venson and Robinson each had a pair of baskets as James Madison scored 15 of the next 17 points to make it 65-46 with 7:12 to go. American missed seven of eight shots and turned it over four times in the run.
Rowe finished with 16 points, and the Dukes also got 11 from Venson and 10 apiece from Robinson and Kent Culuko.
Fudd led American with 23 points. Darryl Franklin added 14 points for the Eagles and Christian Ast had 12.\ \ UNC Wilmington 100
George Mason 97
Corey Stewart scored six points in overtime as the Seahawks held on for a victory over the Patriots.
Third-seeded North Carolina-Wilmington (18-9) won its fourth consecutive game and moved into today's semifinals against No. 2 seed James Madison.
George Mason (10-17) lost seven of its final nine games in its first year under coach Paul Westhead.
Stewart broke an 89-89 tie on a 3-pointer with 3:12 left in the extra period, and he added a jumper in the lane on the Seahawks' next possession to make it 94-91.
George Mason cut it to a single point three times, the last at 98-97 on a layup by Andrew Fingall with 36 seconds remaining.
But the Patriots missed their last two shots, and North Carolina-Wilmington made two of four free throws in the last 28.4 seconds.
Darren Moore led the Seahawks with 22 points and Stewart had 21.
by CNB