Jan. 10, 2004
NORFOLK, VA -Sophomore forward Alex Loughton's (Perth, Australia) 23 points led the way for the Monarchs, as the Old Dominion men's basketball team defeated the Hofstra Pride 71-66, Saturday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center, for their sixth straight win. The Monarchs also took the lead in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 3-0 record, and improve to 8-4 overall. Hofstra drops to 6-8 overall, 2-2 in the CAA.
The Monarchs jumped out to a 7-1 lead after three minutes of play, with Loughton, Drew Williamson (Burlington, NC) and John Waller (Richmond, VA) each contributing points. By the 16:25 mark of the half, ODU was able to extend their lead to nine, 13-4, off a Valdas Vasylius (Klaipeda, Lithuania) three-pointer. The Monarchs held a 18-10 edge with 13:45 remaining in the half, before Hofstra rolled off a 9-0 run to grab their first lead of the game, 19-18, at the 9:28 mark. Two John Waller free throws put the Monarchs back up by one, 20-19, but Danny Walker connected on a jumper to give the Pride the 21-20 lead, with 8:51 remaining. Four straight T.J. Waldon (Lakeland, FL) points put ODU back on top 24-21 by the 7:27 mark, and a Vasylius jumper extended the Monarch lead to five points, 28-23, with 5:32 remaining, but two straight Kenny Adeleke layups for Hofstra cut the lead down to just one point, 28-27, with 4:13 left in the half. Still holding a one point lead, 30-29, at the 2:31 mark, Arnaud Dahi (Ivory Coast, Africa) hit a three-pointer to give ODU the 33-29 lead. An Isaiah Hunter (Charlotte, NC) free throw ended the half, giving ODU the 36-31 halftime lead.
Dahi scored on a layup 13 seconds into the second half, to give ODU a seven point, 38-31 lead, and the Monarchs held an eight-point, 48-40 lead by the 15:28 mark, but Hofstra came back with a 6-0 run to cut the ODU lead to just two points, 48-46, by the 11:58 mark. Still holding onto a narrow two point, 50-48 lead, with 11:09 left in the half, the Monarchs used a 6-0 run to extend their lead to eight points, 56-48, with 10:29 remaining. Loughton, Dahi and Troy Nance (Virginia Beach, VA) all contributed in the run. By the 6:17 mark, ODU held a 62-56 lead, before Carlos Rivera connected on a three-pointer for the Pride, to cut the Monarch lead down to just three points, 62-59. At the 3:29 mark, ODU still clung to a 66-64 lead, before Kenny Adeleke made a layup to tie the game up at 66. Drew Williamson hit one of his two free throws to put ODU back on top by a point, 67-66, with 1:05 left in the game. Alex Loughton was good on his two free throw attempts and Kiah Thomas (Norfolk, VA) was good on his, as ODU came away with the 71-66 victory.
ODU came into the game ranked 2nd in the CAA in rebounding margin, averaging +3.8, but it was Hofstra who dominated the boards during the contest, holding a 47-28 advantage for the game. Despite that, the Monarchs had five fewer turnovers (21-16) than the Pride and out-shot Hofstra 46.5% (20 of 43) to 39.1% (27 of 69). ODU connected on 40% of their three-point attempts (6 of 15) compared to Hofstra's 17.6% (3 of 17). Alex Loughton led all game-scorers with 23 points, off 6 of 9 shooting and 10 of 11 from the line. Isaiah Hunter had 10 points. Danny Walker had a double-double for the Pride, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Kenny Adeleke added 15 points and Carlos Rivera had 12.
The Monarchs next travel to James Madison Wednesday, January 14 before visiting Delaware Saturday, January 17.
POST GAME QUOTES:
Hofstra Head Coach Tom Pecora
"Old Dominion is a good team. Blaine (Taylor) had themvery well prepared. The game came down to making plays.They did a better job making plays tonight."
On Alex Loughton
"He's one of the improved players in the conference.Right now he's playing like an all-conference firstteam player."
Old Dominion Head Coach Blaine Taylor
"I told my guys earlier in the season how much I like them.We have the players to have a good team and the developingtalent to improve. I'm proud of our team, but we still haveways to go."