Oct. 12, 2003
LONDON, ENGLAND-- The Old Dominion University basketball Monarchs started their tour of Londonwith two victories Sunday led by senior John Waller (Richmond, VA.), and freshman Valdas Vasylius(Klaipeda, Lithuania), both of whom scored in double figures in the two games. ODU defeateda U.S. Air Force squad from Lakenheath, 97-51, then defeated London United, 91-65.
In game one against Lakenheath Eagles, ODU put five in double-figures. John Waller led with18 points, freshman forward Arnaud Dahi (Ivory Coast) scored 17 with ten rebounds, pre-seasonCAA All-Conference forward sophomore Alex Loughton (Perth, Australia) scored 14 and hauledin ten boards, Isaiah Hunter (Charlotte, NC) scored 14 Vasylius chipped in with 13 pointsand eight rebounds.
Troy Nance (Va. Beach, VA.) dished out eight assists, followed by freshman Drew Williamson (Burlington, NC.)with six assists. The Monarchs outrebounded Lakenheath, 62-25. Janko Mrksic led ODU with 12 boards.
IN GAME TWO Vasylius, the 2003 Tidewater Conference Player of the Year atNorfolk Collegiate scored 27 points and hauled in seven rebounds. Vasylius was 9-12 from thefloor. John Waller added 17 points, and nine rebounds, while freshman guard Abdi Lidonde(Sutton, MA.) scored 14 points. Alex Loughton led ODU with 13 points, and freshman DrewWilliamson dished out seven assists. ODU held London United to .261 shooting from the floor (17-65), and outrebounded them, 57-36. ODU shot .411 (35-85).
TAYLOR QUOTES: "The games today were much more competitive than the final score.They were quite physical, and both teams forced us to do alot of different things, bothoffensively and defensively. We got outstanding contributions form many different people inscoring, rebounding, and just picking us up when we needed a lift. That was very important in playingtwo games back-to-back in the same day. I was very pleased with our rebounding and our defense, and I thought we played very unselfishly. But tomorrow is a different challengewith toughter opponents."
CAGE NOTES The \monarchs toured London Saturday. Noted Isaiah Hunter "I enjoyed theTower Bridge, especially watching illusionist David Blaine in a glass cage over the Thames."
The first game was played in St. Alban's, Engloand about 45 minutes from London. Theteam visited the St. Alban's Cathedral before the game. The church is over 1700 years old.
The games consisted of four ten minute quarters.
SCORING SUMMARY(POINTS)Game One: ODU- Hunter 14, Williamson 5, Waller 18, Lidonde 6, Drewry 0, Nance 3,Dahi 17, Loughton 14, Vasylius 13, Mrksic 5; ODU-19-27-24-27=97LAKENHEATH : Flan 9, booker 7, Ervin 0, Davis 15, Blankman 0,Sterwart 14, Collins 4, Philpott,, 2, Coriano 0; Total 12-10-10-19-51
GAME TWOODU -Hunter 6, Williamson 7, Waller 17, Lidonde 14, Drewry 4, Nance 3, Dahi 3, Loughton 8,Vasylius 27, Mrksic 2; Totals: 26-27-20-18=91LONDON UNITED : Smith 0, Veer 10, Ogunjimi 11, Athahus 6, Cadogan 14, Obigee 0, Deppich 8,Seaman 12, Munimi 4;totals 16-21-17-11=65.