Jan. 31, 2005
NORFOLK, VA -Arnaud Dahi (Ivory Coast, Africa) and Alex Loughton (Perth, Australia) combined for 41 points to lead the Old Dominion men's basketball team to a 86-72 victory over the Drexel Dragons Monday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. The Monarchs improve to 19-3 for the season and 9-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while Drexel falls to 10-8 overall and 6-4 in the CAA.
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ODU started out strong in the first half, grabbing a 8-4 lead by the 16:20 mark, but by the 13:46 mark, the Monarchs held a slim 12-11 lead. Drexel led 14-13 with 12:35 remaining in the half before ODU went on a brief 4-0 run to grab the 17-14 lead with 10:40 left in the half. The Monarchs led by one point, 23-22, with 7:20 left, before going on a 8-0 run to grab a 31-22 advantage with just under six minutes remaining. With just under five minutes left, ODU had a 10-point lead, 33-23, and by the 2:37 mark, the Monarchs had a 13-point edge, 42-29. After Drew Williamson (Burlington, NC) made a layup in the closing seconds of the half, ODU took a 13-point lead, 44-31, going into halftime.
Drexel came on strong in the second half, going on a 15-2 run to tie the game at 46-46 at the 14:57 mark. Bashir Mason, Phil Goss and Jeremiah King all made back-to-back three-pointers for the Dragons during the run. Alex Loughton gave ODU the lead once again, 48-46, after making a layup. By the 11:22 mark, the Monarchs pulled out to a eight point lead, 55-47, and after Kiah Thomas (Norfolk, VA/Granby) hit four consecutive free throws off a Drexel technical foul, the Monarchs had a 12-point lead, 64-52, with just over eight minutes left in the contest. A pair of Kiah Thomas free throws and a three-pointer by Thomas helped give ODU their largest lead of the game, 18 points, 71-53 with 6:28 remaining. With just under two minutes remaining in the game, Drexel pulled to within nine points, 75-66, but ODU held on for a 86-72 victory.
For the game, Alex Loughton scored a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Arnaud Dahi scored 20. Fourteen of Dahi's points came in the second half. Kiah Thomas added a career high 17 points for the Monarchs, connecting on 10 foul shots. Sean Brooks led the Dragons in scoring with 18 points, while Jeremiah King had 17 points and Bashir Mason had 14. As a team, the Monarchs out-rebounded Drexel 45-33 and made 24 foul shots, compared to Drexel's 11.
The Monarchs will be back in action Wednesday night, when ODU hosts Towson at 7:00.