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C4 | MACE & CROWN | wednesday 2/23/2011
wednesday 2/23/2011 | MACE & CROWN | C5
ODU loses in regular season finale
ODU beats Georgia State in a blue-collar affair Monarchs Continue Their Surge Down the Stretch by
Justin Brown Staff Writer
The Monarchs beat the Georgia State Panthers 60-43 Feb. 15, but the score was much closer for the majority of the game. The win brought the Monarchs to 12-4 in the CAA and ties them with the VCU Rams for second place, as VCU got slammed by George Mason the same night. The game was much closer than 17 points for the majority of the matchup. It started slow and the Monarchs could never seem to pull away. Thirteen minutes into the game it was 9-6, just what the Panthers were looking to do. Georgia State Head Coach Rod Barnes came in with the mentality of slowing the game and disrupting the Monarchs’ flow. “ The strategy for Barnes worked for the first half as the Monarchs went into halftime with only a 25-20 lead and were out-rebounded 20-16, a feat that not many teams can claim. Senior Frank Hassell came out hot in the second half and helped to solidify some offense and a win for the Monarchs. Frank put up 12 points in the second and finished with 17 and 10 rebounds. Hassell had the first six points for the Monarchs out of the intermission and gave the Monarchs a sense of physicality and offense to start the second. Junior Kent Bazemore had nothing but good things to say about Hassell’s performance after the game. “I’m always going to be Frank’s biggest carrier,” said Bazemore. “I know how good he’s been and how far here’s came. He’s come a long way and I think he can even get better.” The defense played by the Panthers was tough, but the Monarchs put on their hard hats and played even tougher. With a couple of 6-foot- 10 inch
forwards, the Panthers were ready to bang defensively, but the Monarchs team, would not let the that deter their chance to claim second place in the conference. “Tonight was a workmenlike performance. We really had to do quite a number of things right. Some teams might’ve not gotten the job done tonight, but we found a way,” said Head Coach Blaine Taylor after the game. That’s exactly how the game went and it was the Monarchs’ “workmenlike performance” that was the deciding factor in the game. Without being able to sustain a comfortable lead throughout the game, the Monarchs still played tough defense and won the game with the intangibles. The Panthers were outrebounded 22-17 in the second half and for a team that isn’t always great from the free-throw line, the Monarchs went 11-12 down the stretch and shot 75 percent for the game. Ben Finney, a senior leader on this Monarchs basketball team, was a huge factor throughout the second half. He grabbed four offensive rebounds in the period and seven for the game. This Monarchs basketball team came to play with their hard hats on and didn’t stop playing until the final whistle. The same can’t be said about the Panthers. At the three minute mark the Monarchs went on a 12-0 run and all but stopped the Panthers’ chances of getting back into the game. It was 47-42 at that point of the game and the Panthers were only able to score one more point for the rest of the game. The Monarchs, however, scored 13. Another conference win for the Monarchs puts them in great position for the CAA tournament. Being in second place would put the Monarchs on the opposite side of the bracket from George Mason and those two power-houses in the CAA would only meet in the finals. The season is winding down, but the story is not finished on the hard-hatted Monarchs .
UVA beats ODU 25-11 by
Maralee Pepper Mace & Crown The Monarchs broke up five point lead open with a 13-1 run the final 3:58 of the contest.
Breaking through the bracket
Danielle Buxton Mace & Crown The next step for the ODU wrestling team will be the CAA Championship Tournament at Rider University starting March 4.
record for most career wins in ODU history. Next came the match at 133 pounds with Hutter going against UVA freshman Joe Spisak. Hutter started off very fast also with a takedown in :13. But he would get a bit ahead of himself and get trapped by Spisak nearly scoring a quick pin and having Hutter’s leg inside the neck hold he had around Hutter. Hutter managed to work his way out of the hold and would eventually
escape, but he would go into the second period down 6-3. Hutter got back into his game in the second and would quickly escape, and with only :20 left in the second he would score a takedown evening the match up 6-6 going into the third and final period. The two would go back and forth in the third and with less than a minute left in regulation time the score would be 8-8. Hutter, not ready to let the match go to overtime, shot in
Split Series Opener
Donnell Coley Staff Writer
Cleveland State University head basketball coach Gary Waters, praised ODU after losing to them in Sunday’s ESPN Bracketbuster game. “They’re good enough to be in the NCAA [tournament]. They should feel good going into the tournament,” said Waters. Waters brings up a great topic, especially as we approach the most important month in college basketball. With an impressive 74-63 victory, ODU looks to have expanded on a resume that is fit to make the field of the NCAA tournament. But more importantly is the message that the Monarchs sent. The Monarchs went up against one of the most prolific scorers in the nation in Cleveland State’s Norris Cole. Cole came out the locker room scorching scoring, 24 of his game-high 35 points in the first half. Most coaches would find that to be the time to panic defensively. But ODU head coach, Blaine Taylor, lives for coaching defense. So much so that he joked about holding Cole to 11 points in the second half. But seriously, looking at the second half you could tell the team had been instructed at halftime. They started off the game in man-to-man defense. But as coach Waters put it, “they knew that they couldn’t stay in man”. The Monarchs steadily changed zone defenses during the second half and forced tough looks and deflections. Cole admitted that the zones gave them a tough time and it became harder to get open looks. It was more impressive that the Monarch defense was able to focus on limiting contributions other than Cole. Coach Taylor said that during halftime he made an emphasis to stop the supporting cast. The team responded by holding the other Vikings to less than 32 percent in the game. The story—and theme for the Monarchs season—in the game was rebounding. They had a plus 19 rebound margin. Senior forward Frank Has sell led the team with 15, followed by senior guard Ben Finney who grabbed 13, 12 of which in the first half. “These guys get rebounds. It’s not just the big men, but there guards get in there too,” said Waters. That seems to be a common expression from coaches
Sunday night Old Dominion University (7-121) lost a tough match against state rivals University of Virginia (19-7) 25-11 at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. ODU won three out of the first four matches, but lost the last six to give up the lead and take the lose. Before the game ODU took a moment to honor the seniors that have worked so hard to make ODU a team known across the wrestling communities of America. Seniors Jayk Cobbs, Joey Metzler, Dan Rivera, Kyle Hutter, and James Nicholson were escorted to center mat by family and friends for pictures and a wave to the fans. The match began as many matches this season have begun, with a win from CAA Wrestler of the Week, for the last two weeks, Nicholson. It took him only :35 to get his first takedown on UVA redshirt sophomore Matt Snyder. Snyder did manage a couple of good shoots at Nicholson trying to take him down, but Nicholson always managed to grab Snyder’s ankle before he went down keeping Snyder from getting points for takedowns. Nicholson would win the match 12-3 and would increase his record to 29-0 this season. He needs seven more wins to earn the
Baseball Monarchs fall short in finale vs. St. Joseph’s
ODU hopes win over solidifies NCAA tournament birth by
Greg Arnold Staff Writer
and managed a last second takedown that won him the match 10-8. The only other Monarch to walk away with a win Sunday night would be freshman Scott Festejo. Festejo would score a major decision over redshirt junior Dave Ebbott of UVA. Festejo almost managed a pin early but Ebbott rolled out of it just before the referee slapped his hand to the mat. By the end of the match Festejo looked exhausted but held on for a 15-6 win, putting ODU up 11-3 after four matches. Unfortunately UVA would take over the matches from there. UVA’s two ranked wrestlers, senior Chris Henrich, ranked fourth at 174 pounds, and redshirt freshman Jon Fausey, ranked 20th at 184 pounds, both earned wins against ODU. Fausey scored a major decision against ODU junior Joe Budi. UVA sophomore Stephen Doty, current ACC Wrestler of the Week, locked up the match with an 8-3 win against ODU freshman Jacob Henderson. This match ended the regular season for the Monarchs, they finished the season 2-3 at home. The next step for the ODU wrestling team will be the CAA Championship Tournament at Rider University starting March 4. ODU has been the runner-up in the team competition the last five years, and James Nicholson was won at 125 pounds the last three years, and is an almost certain favorite to win again this year.
By Brian Staff Writer
Kathryne Mason Mace & Crown With an impressive 74-63 victory, ODU looks to have expanded on a resume that is fit to make the field of the NCAA tournament.
that have had to face the athletic bigs of ODU this season. This will prove to be a useful tool if they are to make a tournament run. Bench production will also be a deciding factor. Senior forward Keyon Carter scored 14 points and sophomore Trian Illiadis added eight on Sunday. When there were droughts throughout the game, Carter and Illiadis helped with timely baskets. “I know that me and Trian have to come in and provide a spark off the bench,” said Carter. Junior guard Kent Bazemore might be the most crucial ingredient to the success of the Monarchs. His defensive prowess will be important and he will have to come close to the 18 points he put up against Cleveland State. When teams collapse on Hassell in the low post, Bazemore will have to use his athleticism to create plays. ODU looks to finish out the remainder of their CAA regular season before heading into the conference tournament in Richmond on March 11.
The Old Dominion University Baseball Monarchs, opening their 80th season this weekend, ended their 4-game weekend series, falling to the Atlantic 10’s St. Joseph’s Hawks in the finale by a final score of 11-7 on Sunday afternoon at Bud Metheny Baseball Complex. Dean Ali took the mound for the non-conference contest, with a chance for ODU to start their series off with series victory. Unfortunately, St. Joe’s right fielder Kevin Kratchowill, first basemen Kevin Taylor, designated hitter Mike Plakis, third basemen Joe Cook, and shortstop Anthony Cirillo didn’t get that memo, as they all drove in at least 2 runs each (Cook, 3) to split the weekend series with the Monarchs. ODU started off strong, taking a 3-0 lead in the top half of the 1st inning, when redshirt sophmore designated hitter Shawn Sizemore gave ODU the lead when he doubled to left field, driving in Preseason All-CAA Honorable Mention first basemen Christopher Baker, who extended his hitting streak to an unprecedented 32 consecutive games, a mark that already exceeds the previous ODU record, set by himself less than a year ago, after breaking Jared Musolf’s single-season record of 24 back in 2000 and the overall mark set by Anthony Forelli in ’97 and ’98. After senior rightfielder Nathan Hartman knocked in 2 more runs, the Monarchs took the lead into the early top half of the 4th before it slipped away. The Hawks would go on to score 6 unanswered runs, before adding 4 more in the 6th to dig ODU into an even deeper whole. The Silver and Blue would respond in the bottom of the 7th when Hartman knocked in another 2 runs and Baker drove in one more, but that would be as close as they’d come. St. Joe’s would knock in one more insurance run in the 9th before Hawks right-handed freshmen Brett Koliani closed the game out to split the series. In the game, ODU freshman RHP Dean Ali took the mound on Sunday afternoon, giving up 3 earned runs (6 total), off 7 hits, while fanning 2 batters and walking 4, before being pulled in the 4th. The win went to sophomore RHP Kyle Mullen, giving Ali the defeat in a closely contested matchup. The loss ends a series that gave us some interesting pitching performances from the Monarchs in the previous 3 games. Some bright spots on the mound this weekend were the performances of ace left-hander and Preseason All-CAA Team starting pitcher Kyle Hald, who began the weekend with a strong outing, giving up only 5 unearned runs off 8 hits, striking out 8 Hawks and walking 3 batters in 7 innings of action. RHP Mike Ney took the mound in the top half of the 8th, retiring the side before Norfolk Native Adam Wesniewski closed the game out, giving the Monarchs an opening day victory. Righty Ben Tomchick continued ODU’s success the following day by going 7 innings strong himself, giving up his lone earned run in the top half of the 5th off 8 hits and walking 2 batters. Senior righty Joe Haumaucher struggled a bit in the 9th inning, giving up 3 runs before stranding 2 Hawks runners on base to end the game and give the Monarchs a 2-0 record to start the season, in what was seemingly a one-sided ODU performance in game 1 of a scheduled double-header. In game 2, the ball was given to righty Phil McAurthur, who started off strong. He allowed only 1 earned run (4 total), while striking out 4 batters and walking 5 batters in 5 innings of action. In the game, freshmen right handers Ben Verlander and Luois Singleton, as well as junior righty Mike Ney all saw action on the mound. They will try their arms once more, when the Monarchs (2-2) travel to Richmond on Tuesday, February 22 to take on the Spiders at 2:30pm in their first conference matchup of the season, followed by a trip to Charleston, South Carolina to participate in The Citadel Challenge. In the tournament, ODU will take on The Raiders of Wright State University, as well as hosts The Citadel Bulldogs on February 25-27 starting at 12:00pm. The Monarchs’ next home series will take place on March 4th for a 3:00pm first pitch in the opener of a 3-game series against the Fairfield Stags.
Ari Gould Mace & Crown ‘Some bright spots on the mound this weekend were the performances of ace left-hander and Preseason All-CAA Team starting pitcher Kyle Hald.