VOL. 52, ISSUE 19 | MARCH 16, 2011
Mace & Crown Student newspaper of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, since 1930
www.maceandcrown.com
Danielle Buxton Mace & Crown Monarchs clinch second straight CAA Tournament Title and trip to the NCAA Tournament.
It would end that way Monarchs capture second consecutive CAA tournament championship against rival VCU Stuart Miller Editor in Chief
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As Old Dominion University was announced as a nine seed in this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament, it reflected on the hard work that paid off from a season of success both in and out of the Colonial Athletic Association. Although they finished with the second best record in the CAA at 27-6, the Monarchs made their presence known in this year’s Virginia 529 College Savings Plan CAA tournament. The overall performance of the Monarchs throughout the tournament could be describe as resilient, hard fought and well deserved because of the effort the team put in. As ODU Head Coach Blaine Taylor and the rest of the Monarchs cut down the nets for the second consecutive year in a row at the Richmond Coliseum, emotions ran high as a sea of ODU fans crowded the team at center court. “It feels great, I mean two is always better than one,” said ODU junior guard Kent Bazemore. “It shows our toughness getting up at six in the morning lifting weights and working out, you hate to do it while you’re doing it, but it pays off.” After defeating a pesky University of Delaware squad and ruining Hofstra University senior Charles Jenkins’ last hope at an NCAA tournament berth, the Monarchs found themselves on hardwood of the Richmond Coliseum on championship Monday staring across the court at their bitter rivals: Virginia Commonwealth University. The VCU Rams came into the tournament with a bad taste in their mouths losing four of their last five games in the regular season, which put their hopes of being selected for the NCAA tournament in jeopardy.
Coming off of a rout of then nationally ranked George Mason University in the semifinals 79-63, the Rams walked into the championship game against ODU with the swagger of a team destined for an NCAA tournament berth, which they ultimately received even after losing to the Monarchs 70-65 in the Virginia 529 College Savings Plan CAA tournament championship. When looking at both halves, the score tells a story in itself. Being up 13 points at halftime, it was no shock that the Monarchs were shooting 63.6 percent from the field. With that being said however, it was no surprise that VCU would find away to get back into the game, coming all the way back from an 18 point deficit to bring ODU’s massive lead to one point with under five minutes to play in the championship game. “It was quite a championship game, in the first half I thought we played just unbelievable for the setting and what was at stake,” said ODU Head Coach Blaine Taylor, “Our kids really came to play and played like champions.” The Monarchs’ hot shooting came from the CAA tournament MVP Frank Hassell as he put up 14 of his 22 total points in the first half followed by a combined 15 points off the bench from senior forward Keyon Carter and junior guard Trian Illiadis. The production of Hassell and the ODU bench was not the only factor in the first half as VCU took an early 3-0 lead and fell completely out of sync, shooting 37.5 percent from the field in the first half, but not without hitting six 3-pointers early on. Despite the Rams’ poor shooting performance the Monarchs headed into the locker room with the lurking concern that there were still 20 minutes to play in a hostile environment at the Richmond Coliseum. After starting out on a 6-0 headed up entirely by junior guard Kent Bazemore, the Rams went on their own run, cutting the lead to seven points thanks to an 11-0 run early in the second half. Led by VCU guard Joey Rodriguez, the Rams managed to cause panic amongst the Monarch faithful as the final four minutes of the
game consisted of both teams trading buckets to a point where the Monarchs could simply not put VCU away to solidify their second straight CAA championship win. “You have to give VCU credit, they really came at us and forced a number of turnovers and got very physical,” said Taylor, “But again a credit to our guys to be able to absorb their run and finish the job, fortunately we had enough wiggle room as well as we played and fortunately we have enough experience, enough talent, and enough will to get to the finish line and be able to say the rare occurrence of being CAA champions.” It wasn’t until the Monarchs found themselves up four points with 1:33 left and ball in their possession when ODU senior Ben Finney tossed an alley-oop to Bazemore off an inbounds pass, igniting the crowd. After the circus act of an inbound play, the Monarchs cruised to victory, hitting eight of their last 13 free throws. The conclusion to the final chapter of ODU and VCU on this season was one of the best games in recent years in a season where both teams stole a game on each other’s home court. “We have a little bit of time now because we play our tournament a little early to kind of rest and recuperate and at that point we just have try to stay focused,” said ODU Athletic Director Dr. Camden Wood-Selig, “The fact that we know that we are in the [NCAA tournament] I think is a real plus, there is no anxiety or heartache or mental anguish and a lot of wasted energy wondering what’s going to happen on Selection Sunday.” With a record of 27-6 the Monarchs will take on the eight seeded Butler University Bulldogs in Washington, D.C. on Thursday during the first round of the NCAA tournament.
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