Jan. 21, 2004
NORFOLK, VA - The Old Dominion men's basketball team fell to Virginia Commonwealth University for the seventh straight time Wednesday night, dropping a 75-67 decision at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. Alex Loughton (Perth, Australia) led Monarch scorers with 17 points, and added 11 rebounds for a double-double. The Monarchs drop to 9-6 for the season, 4-2 in Colonial Athletic Association play, while the Rams improve to 11-5 and 5-2 in conference play.
The first half was marked by nine lead changes, and neither team was able to able to grab higher than a four-point lead. Troy Godwin got the game started with a lay-up nearly 45 seconds into the game, but just seconds later, Isaiah Hunter (Charlotte, NC) hit a jumper to tie the game up. ODU trailed 10-8 by the 12:06 mark of the half, before John Waller (Richmond, VA) connected on a three-pointer to give the Monarchs their first lead of the game, 11-10. A lay-up by Domonic Jones, however, put VCU back up 12-11 with 11:29 remaining in the half. With 9:52 remaining, the game was tied for the fifth time of the half at 15-15 before Jones hit a jumper to put VCU back on top 17-15. John Waller, then, hit a three-pointer and Alex Loughton added a jumper to give the Monarchs the 20-17 lead by the 7:49 mark, and held a 25-21 lead--off a Hunter three-pointer--by the 6:51 mark, but the Rams were able to pull the game to within one point by the 4:41 mark of the half, 28-27, after Troy Godwin connected on a lay-up, and grabbed the lead, 29-28, off a Derrick Reid jumper half a minute later. T.J. Waldon (Lakeland, FL) hit a lay-up to give ODU the 30-29 advantage. Down 33-32 with 1:41 remaining, Valdas Vasylius (Klaipeda, Lithuania) connected on a jumper to give the Monarchs the 34-33 halftime lead.
Isaiah Hunter scored the first points of the second half, as he dunked the ball to give the Monarchs the 36-33 lead with 19:28 left in the game. By the 18:06 mark, ODU was leading 40-35 after Alex Loughton connected on a jumper, but a Troy Godwin jumper and a made free throw cut the lead down to two points, 40-38, with 17:54 remaining. The lead was back up to five, 45-40, by the 16:05 mark, as Loughton was good on a lay-up attempt, but a subsequent dunk by Troy Godwin and a jumper by Jesse Pellot-Rosa cut the advantage down to just one point, 45-44, with 15:16 left in the game. With 14:34 left, the Monarchs once again pulled out to a five-point lead, 49-44, and by the 10:41 mark, ODU took their largest lead of the game, 56-50, off an Alex Loughton lay-up and a John Waller three-pointer. VCU then went on a 8-0 run to grab a 58-56 lead with 8:18 left in the game. VCU was led by Derrick Reid's three points and Michael Doles' five points in the run. Loughton tied the game up at 58 with a layup, but with 2:54 left in the game, VCU took their largest lead of the game to that point, five points, 66-61, with Domonic Jones capping off the 8-3 Rams run. The Monarchs came back to within two points of VCU, 66-64, with just over a minute left in the game, but ODU was unable to get any closer as Michael Doles drained a three-pointer with 33 seconds left in the game. Six Rams' free-throws closed out a hard-fought game, with VCU winning 75-67.
VCU held a narrow 38-36 rebounding margin for the game and out-shot the Monarchs 46.2% (30 of 65) to 41.4% (24 of 58). The Monarchs, however, did connect on 35.7% of their three-pointers (5 of 14) compared to only 20% (3 of 15) for VCU. ODU shot 70% (14 of 20) from the free-throw line for the night, while the Rams shot 85.7% (12 of 14). Alex Loughton led all Monarchs with a double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for the game. Isaiah Hunter added 15 points and Valdas Vasylius (Klaipeda, Lithuania) scored 11. VCU's Michael Doles scored a game-high 20 points, while Domonic Jones scored 18, Troy Godwin had 17 and Derrick Reid added 11.
The Monarchs travel to Towson Saturday afternoon, for a 4:00 PM tip-off, before returning home next Wednesday, January 28, to take on the Seahawks of UNC-Wilmington.