THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601280319
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
A good inside-outside combination enabled Old Dominion to dispatch William and Mary Saturday and keep pace with a pack atop the Colonial Athletic Association standings.
The Monarchs, winners of five of their last six, had too much beef inside and also got seven 3-pointers from a pair of freshmen in an 86-82 win at William and Mary Hall. The victory puts ODU in a three-way tie with UNC-Wilmington and East Carolina for second place in the CAA, one game behind Virginia Commonwealth.
It also put the Monarchs (10-9, 5-2) above the .500 mark for the first time this season.
ODU sophomore forward Joe Bunn turned in a most-efficient 21 minutes, scoring 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. Center Odell Hodge also had a double-double - 16 points, 11 rebounds - as ODU enjoyed a 45-27 edge on the boards. Freshmen Mike Byers (22 points, four 3-pointers) and Mark Poag (11 points, all in the first half) provided perimeter punch.
The 6-foot-6 Bunn was guarded mostly by the Tribe's 6-9 David Cully, who leads the CAA and ranks 12th nationally with 3.5 blocked shots per game.
``It's always easier for me to play against taller players because of the mentality they have of, `I'm a lot bigger than him, I'll go up and block the shot,' '' Bunn said. ``A lot of my post moves are predicated on getting my opponent up in the air.''
Bunn used an array of pump fakes, hooks and spinning moves to create shots. ODU coach Jeff Capel has seen this type of performance before when he coached Bunn at North Carolina A&T and Bunn took on the likes of North Carolina State's Todd Fuller, Georgia Tech's James Forrest and Arkansas' Corliss Williamson.
``It's uncanny,'' Capel said. ``He can shoot it with either hand, he's got great footwork, he's strong. The thing about Joe is, if you body him, he likes that. When he has problems is when people back away from him. If you body up to him, that's to his advantage. It's amazing to me.''
It was amazing Cully managed to gut out 31 minutes. He was obviously spent during the second half after missing Wednesday's game against George Mason with the flu, which caused him to lose about 10 pounds in a week. At one timeout Cully wobbled like a staggered prizefighter while trying to make his way to the bench.
``Cully's dragging, I'm sure he's really exhausted,'' William and Mary coach Charlie Woollum said. ``If he feels anything like I do - I've got the same crap - I don't know how he made it.''
Old Dominion was down a point at the half. The Monarchs had been 0-8 when trailing at intermission this season.
The game was tied at 66-66 with 6 1/2 minutes remaining. Bunn got ODU rolling with a lefthanded shot over Cully, and six minutes after the game had been tied the Monarchs had a comfortable 80-70 lead following a breakaway behind-the-head slam dunk by Byers with 39 seconds left. The Tribe (6-10, 2-5) got just one field goal and two free throws on 10 possessions during the 14-4 ODU run. The Tribe tightened up the final score with two 3-pointers in the last 11 seconds.
``When we didn't score, we didn't execute on defense and stop them from scoring,'' William and Mary's Carl Parker said. Parker (14 points) was one of three players in double figures for William and Mary, which was led by point guard Randy Bracy's 21 points.
The victory was ODU's 10th in a row over the Tribe. ODU has won 23 of the last 24 games in the series.
The Monarchs return to Scope Monday night to play American, and have six of nine remaining CAA games at home. by CNB