THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 7, 1995 TAG: 9503070400
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Stay together.
Old Dominion's 12-point lead had evaporated, James Madison was charging, Petey Sessoms' shot wasn't falling and Mario Mullen was in foul trouble.
With 8:14 to play in Monday's Colonial Athletic Association championship game, ODU coach Jeff Capel stood up and held his hands out as if he were gripping a basketball. Guard Brion Dunlap saw it, turned to his teammates as they huddled on the court and relayed the message: Stay together.
``That got me back on track,'' Sessoms said. ``A game like this is so intense, you can easily lose the focus for a second.''
The Monarchs (20-11) will be together in the NCAA tournament next week, thanks to their 80-75 victory over the Dukes.
This time, ODU held on down the stretch. This time, no Kent Culuko shot at the buzzer could bail out JMU. This time, the Monarchs cut down the Richmond Coliseum nets.
As last year's championship game faded from memory, what the Monarchs accomplished this season without the services of injured star Odell Hodge - who sprinted across the floor like a track star at the final horn - flooded their heads.
Those heads had all been shaved clean - except for reserve Mark Johnson, who vows he'll do it before the NCAA tournament - all in the name of team unity.
``We went through a lot of adversity and people doubted us a bit, but we just stayed together,'' Mullen said.
Mullen kept the Monarchs together in the first half, operating masterfully inside to total 15 points as well as six rebounds.
``He's really not that great an offensive player,'' JMU coach Lefty Driesell said. ``He ate us up tonight.''
In the second half, Mullen had foul trouble, but Sessoms chewed the Dukes up and spit them out. Sessoms, the CAA Player of the Year, added tournament most valuable player honors to his resume. He scored 20 of his game-high 25 points in the second half and finally rediscovered the consistency of his 3-point shot after missing his first 13 attempts in this tournament.
James Madison tied the game at 56 with 8:14 left - the point at which Capel delivered the stay-together reminder.
The teams stayed together for the rest of the game. The tie was the first of five in the remaining minutes, and there were four lead changes.
James Madison threw a triangle-and-two defense at ODU that kept the ball out of the hands of shooters Sessoms and Mike Jones (15 points). The Dukes penetrated and scored effectively, led by Darren McLinton (24 points) and Louis Rowe (20).
With Mullen fouled out of the game, sophomore E.J. Sherod stepped in and hit a pair of pivotal 3-pointers. The second one, with 2:47 to play, gave ODU a 71-70 lead it did not relinquish.
McLinton made turnovers on consecutive trips down the floor, and Sessoms dropped in a 3-pointer with 1:12 to play. Rowe made a pair of free throws with 1:03 left to cut the lead to 74-72. Jones missed in the lane with 36 seconds left but grabbed the offensive rebound. He was fouled with 28.2 seconds left. His two free throws gave ODU a four-point lead.
Rowe drove to the basket against Sessoms, got turned around and traveled with 12.9 seconds left. Dunlap and Sessoms then shut the door by making four free throws. ODU made 16 of 17 in the second half, ending with 14 in a row.
The victory ensures ODU's sixth Division I NCAA tournament bid and its first since 1992.
It's the second in a row for first-year coach Jeff Capel, who took North Carolina A&T last year.
``What this team has been through makes this special,'' Capel said. ``The expectations at the beginning of the year were very high. We lost one of our players, and everybody was quick to tell us, well not to tell us, but we knew that they didn't expect much from us after we lost Odell. It really offended us.''
Driesell, meanwhile, didn't feel like expounding upon the loss.
``It's tough standing here talking to you all when we just lost,'' he said to the press. ``I guess that's part of the job. When I first started coaching, you didn't have to do this kind of crap. You lost and you went home.''
The Dukes (16-13) indeed are going home. Old Dominion, meanwhile, is staying together. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by Paul Aiken, Staff
At right: Mike Jones...Kent Culuko...
Mike Jones and E.J. Sherod celebrate...
by CNB