Beating ODU just too tall a task for Pride

Calling this a big game certainly was accurate, but a bit of a sore subject for Hofstra. Sure, it was a cool challenge to have been unbeaten in the Colonial Athletic Association and to go up against the defending champion. The "big" part was a problem, though, considering how tall and tough inside Old Dominion is.

As much as first-place Hofstra has enjoyed unexpected heights this season, it couldn't get above the rim or get past the visitor, which owned the glass and left the Mack Sports Complex with a 75-64 victory yesterday.

"If you don't rebound, you don't win," said Charles Jenkins, who admittedly had to alter his shots against a front line that has two 6-9 players and held the Hofstra star to a rather quiet 19 points and 6-for-16 shooting.

Jenkins added that on the boards, size isn't everything. "I think it's just toughness,'' he said. "We weren't as tough as we were our last four games. And it's going to change."

The whole day was tough for the Pride (11-6, 5-1), which had its four-game winning streak snapped mostly because it was outrebounded 52-28. Coach Mo Cassara noted that Old Dominion (13-4, 4-2) outscored Hofstra 27-8 on second-chance opportunities.

"We were just struggling to keep them off the offensive glass all night,'' he said. "We just weren't able to get enough bodies on their big guys to keep them off the glass."

Of course, the notion of going up against the likes of 6-9 senior center Frank Hassell and 6-5 junior guard Kent Bazemore, each of whom had 18 points, was what had made the matchup so enticing for a team that is off to a surprisingly good start this season.

"It was definitely a big game that we marked on our schedule because they won the conference last year, and being that we were 5-0, we wanted to see if we could knock off the powerhouse of the conference," said Hofstra's Mike Moore (19 points), a 6-5 guard who often played up front. "But the way we came out, it showed we can compete for the title in the conference. So we're going to take some positives from this."

Yes, speaking of good starts, the Pride jumped ahead 12-0 in the first 6:30. "Eventually, we knew the ball had to go in," said Hassell (13 rebounds). Sure enough, Old Dominion made it close later in the half.

If there was a turning point, it came with 3:36 left in the first half, when Hofstra's lone big man, 6-10 Greg Washington (five blocks), was called for his third foul. The Pride led 25-20 at the time and was outscored 55-39 the rest of the way.

Even Jenkins, who passed Loren Stokes and moved into third place on Hofstra's all-time scoring list with 2,162 points - 114 behind record-holder Antoine Agudio - could not lift his team high enough. "He's like that movie 'Unstoppable,' " Bazemore said. "Once he gets going full speed, he can change directions so quick. He's a heck of a player, man, a heck of a player."

The reigning champion has a heck of a team. Still, as Moore put it, "We outplayed them, outside of rebounding. If we can get some extra rebounds, we win this game."