By Ed Morrone
When Old Dominion guard Drew Williamson buried a three-pointer at the top of the key to give the Monarchs a 63-62 lead with 5.6 seconds left in last Thursday’s game, the Pride’s packed student section seemed to let out a collective groan.
The Monarchs had converted three consecutive three-pointers to erase a late eight-point deficit to take the lead, and it appeared the Pride had blown a golden opportunity to sweep its nemesis and inch closer to the top of the CAA standings.
However, the angst of Pride fans proved to be short-lived, as senior forward Aurimas Kieza hit the biggest shot of his life, a buzzer beating three-pointer at the top of the key. The play was drawn up for guard Loren Stokes, and the play originated in his hands. Stokes took the ball up the floor, avoided a double team by dribbling behind his back and then quickly flicked the ball to his right to a wide-open Kieza, whose shot easily beat the buzzer.
Pandemonium ensued as soon as the ball rippled through the net, as the student section emptied onto the floor to join Kieza, who was already being mobbed by teammates.
“I just saw Loren pass me the ball and I let it go,” Kieza said. “It took me about 10 or 15 seconds to realize I made it.”
The implications of the shot not only meant the world to the man who took it, but also to his team. With the win, the Pride swept the Monarchs and moved into third place in the CAA. The conference standing will be crucial at the end of the season, as the top four seeds get the first day off in the four-day CAA Tournament. The tournament takes place from March 3-6 in Richmond, Va., with the winner earning an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The Pride certainly believes it can win four straight games if it has to, but being that the playing site is virtually a home game for many of the CAA teams, Coach Pecora’s bunch would prefer to play three games instead of four.
The Pride currently stands at 9-3 in the conference, one-half game behind second place UNC Wilmington and a game and a half behind current leader George Mason.
Right on the Pride’s heels are ODU, VCU and Northeastern, who are all tied for fourth place at 9-4. The standings will surely fluctuate between now and Feb. 25, the last day of regular season games.
The Pride’s remaining schedule includes road games at Georgia State (3-10), William & Mary (2-10) and a huge game at Wilmington on Feb. 15. Home games left on the docket are against Northeastern, a non-conference game vs. Siena (as part of ESPN’s Bracket Buster Saturday) and Drexel (6-7). However, none will be bigger than a Feb. 23 matchup with George Mason, who will most likely stand in the way of the Pride earning a top seed in the conference tournament.
“We’ll see how it plays out,” Pecora said. “All I’m concentrating on right now is Georgia State.”