Dec. 1, 2004
NORFOLK, VA -Sophomore forward Arnaud Dahi (Ivory Coast, Africa) scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to earn a double-double in Old Dominion's 86-38 victory over Virginia Military Institute Wednesday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. Junior forward Alex Loughton (Perth, Australia) also had a double-double for ODU, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. As a team, ODU set a school record with 17 blocked shots, with Freshman Center Sam Harris (Newnham, Tasmania, Australia) leading with the team with a career high seven.
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After a hotly contested first seven minutes of play in the first half, the Monarchs were able to take an 18-point lead, 41-23 into the locker room at halftime, led by Loughton's 15 first half points. The game was hotly contested in the first eight minutes of the half, with ODU holding onto a slim 11-9 lead at the 13:26 mark, but with 8:21 remaining in the half, the Monarchs were able to pull out to a 10-point lead, 26-16, capped by a John Morris (Champ Hill, PA) three-pointer. By the 3:51 mark of the half, Valdas Vasylius (Klaipeda, Lithuania) hit a jumper to extend the ODU lead to 19 points, 25-16. VMI was able to get the lead down to 14 points with just under two minutes left in the half, before ODU rallied for the 18-point halftime edge.
The Monarchs picked up where they left off in the second half, scoring the first seven points of the half to take a 27-point lead, 50-23 with 16:59 left in the game. Kiah Thomas (Norfolk, VA/Granby) scored five of the team's seven points in the run. After a couple of free throws by VMI's Reggie Williams cut the lead down to 25 points, the Monarchs raced back out to a 31-point edge, 58-27, with 14:23 remaining. By the 7:12 mark, ODU held a 41 point lead, 74-33, and the Monarchs had a 51-point lead, 86-35, with just under a minute left in the game, taking the 86-38 victory.
Junior guard Isaiah Hunter (Charlotte, NC) missed the game due to the passing of his father, Irving, of cancer Monday night.
The game was filled with career highs. Arnaud Dahi scored a career-high 18 points, John Morris scored a career-high 12 points, Brian Henderson (Richmond, VA) scored a career-high 11 points and Sam Harris had a career-high seven blocks. Kiah Thomas scored 13 points for the Monarchs. For the game, ODU shot 54.7% from the field (35-of-64), while VMI only shot 27.6% (16-of-58). The Monarchs also had a 40-33 edge on rebounds and connected on 36.4% of their three-point attempts (eight-of-22).
The Monarchs improve to 5-1 for the year, while VMI suffers their first loss, dropping to 2-1. ODU is back in action Saturday night when they face Colonial Athletic Association rival William & Mary at home. Tip off is a 7:00 PM.