THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 9, 1995 TAG: 9502090594
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
Old Dominion's engine was running in fits and starts Wednesday until backup point guard Duffy Samuels came in and stepped on the accelerator.
Old Dominion struggled at times, but dispatched Richmond, 70-60, at Scope. The Monarchs (13-10, 8-1 Colonial Athletic Association) maintained their one-game conference lead over James Madison and UNC Wilmington. The Spiders had beaten ODU in their last four trips to Norfolk.
Richmond (5-16, 1-8) fell into a last-place tie with George Mason. But there were moments when it looked like the CAA bottom feeder was poised to take a bite out of the league's big fish.
``Then the little guy just took over,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said of the 5-foot-9 Samuels.
Richmond played a triangle-and-two defense designed to slow ODU leading scorers Petey Sessoms and Mike Jones. It worked well as the duo was held to a combined 26 points, 13 below their average. The only game this season in which they had fewer points was in the first meeting with Richmond, when Sessoms and Jones combined for 22.
``Their triangle-and-two defense is the best that I've seen,'' Capel said.
But Samuels found the holes in it to score a season-high 14 points in 17 minutes, tying Sessoms as ODU's high scorer. Samuels made 3 of 6 field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers, and converted all six of his free throws in his best game of the season.
``They did a good job running the triangle-and-two,'' Samuels said. ``Coach told me to take the shot when it was there, and if I don't have the shot look to penetrate.''
Samuels has begun to assert himself offensively in recent games, but the biggest boost he provides coming off the bench is usually defense. Although he averages fewer than 15 minutes per game, Samuels is second in the CAA in steals with 2.3 per game.
``He's the best perimeter defensive player in this league,'' Richmond coach Bill Dooley said.
Samuels had four steals Wednesday, forced a couple more turnovers by drawing charges and handed out three assists.
``Duff came in and created havoc as he usually does, but he also hit a couple of big shots for us,'' Capel said. ``I think that forced them to abandon the triangle-and-two.''
The Monarchs looked like they were courting trouble early in the second half.
Richmond cut what had been a 10-point lead to 30-25 at the half. The Spiders committed 15 first-half turnovers, but ODU did a poor job of converting them into baskets and shot just 32 percent.
``I was ecstatic we were only down by five points,'' Dooley said.
The Spiders eliminated that deficit quickly, briefly taking the lead with 14:08 to play on a thunderous slam by Jarod Stevenson.
Samuels answered with a 3-pointer that began a 13-2 ODU run over the next 4 1/2 minutes. Jones also made a pair of treys after Daryl Oliver - who was guarding him - had to sit down with four fouls.
``It was really a great mental stand we made at that particular point,'' said Capel, noting the Monarchs' physical and mental fatigue in the midst of a 10-day stretch in which they play five games.
The run gave the Monarchs a 52-42 lead with 9:31 to play. After the teams traded 3-point baskets, Richmond got no closer than eight points in the final nine minutes.
Sessoms grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds, but ODU lost the battle of the boards for the fourth-consecutive game, 36-29. E.J. Sherod added 10 points for ODU and Kass Weaver led the Spiders with 24 points.
Old Dominion's next game is Saturday at Scope against American. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Bill Tiernan, Staff
ODU's Duffy Samuels, left, steals the ball from Richmond's Jason
McKinney. It was one of four steals for Samuels, who also scored a
season-high 14 points.
by CNB