By Darren Sands
Richmond, Va – Old Dominion University’s guard Isaiah Hunter approached Loren Stokes and said nothing at all. Stokes would have it that their embrace could tell the 2004-05 season’s story.
“It’s all about respect,” Stokes said after the 72-58 loss to ODU Sunday, which ended the Pride’s chances to advance to the Finals and win its first ever Colonial Athletic Association championship. Old Dominion eventually defeated Virginia Commonwealth University Monday night, and will represent the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in the NCAA tournament.
Dribble, shoot, and be merry, or, at least that’s what it seemed like. Before the first media timeout Stokes, Rivera and Agudio combined to make seven three-pointers catapulting the Pride to an early 23-14 lead. The only other field goal came on a runner from Michael Radziejewski. Stokes’ fade-away three-pointer from the right side rattled in from deep at 16:43 as the shot clock was about to expire.
And it was not just the Pride offense that gave Old Dominion fits early on. The Pride, which traveled this year to the CAA tournament with a busload of fans, kept the Old Dominion crowd out of the game thanks to a stifling defense that at one juncture made Old Dominion turn the ball over on three out of four possessions.
“We were confident going in but we knew we had to play a full 40 minutes on both ends of the floor,” Stokes said, who struggled from the field shooting an uncharacteristic 3 for 15. Old Dominion was visibly rough with the first team all-CAA guard. Every time he got free there was a big body, or a player grabbing his jersey.
Perhaps it was the result of ODU’s coach Blaine Taylor sitting courtside with his assistants as Stokes scored a career high 31 points in the quarterfinal win against Drexel. At times, Taylor looked visibly frustrated with Drexel’s inability to stop Stokes from making plays in the open floor. Old Dominion had not forgotten about the Pride’s 66-63 victory in Norfolk on Feb. 23, either. According to Taylor, the loss on senior day “got our attention.”
“Watching him in that [Drexel] game [Friday] you would think that he was unstoppable,” Taylor said, in reference to Stokes who also had seven rebounds and seven assists in Friday’s quarterfinal match up. But Pride head coach Tom Pecora is not one to complain about physical play.
“Loren is as tough as they come and I think as his reputation gets greater and greater he’s going to start getting more of a whistle when people figure out he’s as good as he is at getting to the rim,” he said.
The Pride led 32-23 at the break and it was clear that Old Dominion desperately needed a lift. At the beginning of the second half Isaiah Hunter had two of his team-high 17 points on a scurry to the basket on which he made an acrobatic lay up as he was fouled by Pride guard Gibran Washington. The crowd, comprised mostly of Old Dominion fans that made the two-hour trip from Norfolk, was now completely a factor. If the momentum did not shift over to the Old Dominion side on that play, it almost certainly did on a questionable foul call on Wendell Gibson.
With about 14:12 remaining, Gibson stepped up and got position on CAA Player of the Year Alex Loughton as he drove to the basket. Loughton drew contact and two seconds later tossed the ball at the rim and made the basket. The shot was called as a continuation, and Loughton made the free throw to complete the three-point-play. The Pride’s lead was down to two points, and the momentum had swayed completely over to the Monarchs.
Taylor inserted Valdas Vasylius and Arnaud Dahi, and they responded almost immediately. Vasylius earlier hit a deep 3 at 14:56 to cut the Pride lead down to seven. But Dahi, who played 26 minutes, put Old Dominion up by one on a lay-up to give the Monarchs its first lead since a Michael Radziejewski basket tied the game in the opening minutes.
Only 33 seconds later, Dahi hit a three from the corner to put Old Dominion up by four. It was all part of a 14-0 run that was ended when Carlos Rivera hit two free throws to make it 42-40. Led by their star, the Pride fought back. With 9:47 to go Loren Stokes willed his way to the basket on three fantastic dribbles and was fouled by Kiah Thomas. He completed the three-point play and the game was tied at 45. A Carlos Rivera three-pointer cut the Old Dominion lead back to one point with 7:49 remaining. Rivera finished with 15 points, but the Pride could not recover from Isaiah Hunter’s 3 which put Old Dominion up 58-52 with 5:13 to go.
Despite a huge effort from Antoine Agudio, the crowd, coupled with Old Dominion’s physicality and size proved too much for the Pride to overcome. Agudio, who had his family in attendance, showed why he was unanimously chosen as CAA Rookie of the Year. Fifteen of his team high 22 points came on 5 of 11 shooting from behind the arc. Agudio also made good decisions with the basketball committing only one turnover in 36 minutes.
Media types were buzzing that Old Dominion might have lost its chance at an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament when the Pride beat Old Dominion down in Norfolk. ODU coach Blaine Taylor insists revenge was never a motivating factor in the week’s preparation leading up to the conference tournament.
“When you’re in first place,” Taylor said, “every game is big. It was our last home game and that night was our senior night. We were very disappointed that night. We watched tape, but I never brought it up.”
Old Dominion finished strongly and made 14 free throws down the stretch. Alex Loughton and Isaiah Hunter each finished with a team-high 17 points. The Pride meanwhile, shot a woeful 6 for 25 from the field in the second half.
“We were making jumpers and we kind of fell in love with that,” Pecora said.
“They brought the physicality and energy, and the crowd got into it. That made all the difference.”
All-CAA first-team guard Loren Stokes drives to the basket against Drexel in the quarterfinal matchup at the CAA in Richmond. (James Parziale/The Chronicle)