Feb. 16, 2002
NORFOLK, VA -- Senior Pierre Greene's (Chicago, IL) three pointer with 40 seconds remaining gave the Old Dominion men's basketball team the lead for good as they emerged victorious with a 73-68 win over James Madison, snapping a five-game losing streak at the Fieldhouse this evening. The Monarchs improve to 11-14 overall and 5-10 while the Dukes fall to 12-12 and 5-10 in league play.
The Monarchs enjoyed the lead throughout most of the first half of play, leading the Dukes by as much as 10. At the half, Old Dominion was ahead 37-29.
In the second half, sophomore Clay McGowen (Westerville, OH) converted the traditional three-point play to give Old Dominion its largest lead of the game, 43-33, with 17:38 to go. However, James Madison continually chipped away at the Monarch advantage using a 14-4 run to pull within one, 50-49, at 10:59. The game remained tight through the final minutes as James Madison claimed the lead for the first time since the early minutes of the opening stanza with 6:22 to go. David Fanning hit all three of his free throws for a 61-60 Duke lead.
With the game tied at 68 all with 40 seconds on the call, Greene came racing down the court to hit the trey at the top of the key with plenty of time remaining on the shot clock. The Monarch defense prevailed as the Dukes had two looks at the net before rookie Kiah Thomas (Norfolk, VA) pulled down the offensive board and was sent to the line to seal the victory for the Monarchs.
Junior Ricardo Marsh (Mebane, NC) led all Old Dominion players with 18 points on the night. Junior Rasheed Wright (Greensboro, NC) added 14, sophomore John Waller (Richmond, VA) chipped in 12, and the night's hero, Greene, poured in 13. James Madison's Fanning scored a game-high 22 points in the loss for the Dukes.
The Monarchs return to action on Monday night when they host Hofstra at 7:35 p.m. The game will be broadcast locally on channel 71.