Feb. 19, 2005
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) - Isaiah Hunter scored 15 of his 19 points during thesecond half as Old Dominion defeated William and Mary 82-66 Saturday.
Old Dominion (24-4, 14-2 Colonial Athletic Association) started the gamewith an 11-2 run followed later by a 14-0 run that made it 29-8 with 8:56remaining in the half. William and Mary's Nate Loehrke got hot, scoring 13 ofhis career-high 21 points to end the first half down 44-27.The victory clinched the top spot for ODU in next month's CAA Tournamentin Richmond, VA. The last time ODU was the top seed in the CAA tournamentwas in 1997.
Hunter sank two 3-pointers and a jumper in the first five minutes of thesecond half. The Monarchs had their biggest lead at 63-40 with 11:21 remainingwhen a Laimis Kisielius 3-pointer sparked a 17-6 Tribe run that brought Williamand Mary (6-19, 2-14) to within 12, the closest they could get, with 5:16 left.Kisielius scored seven during that drive to finish the night with 16.
Alex Loughton had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Monarchs, and DrewWilliamson added 12. For Loughton, who was named to the NABC First team All-District IV squad for the second straight year, it was his ninthdouble-double of the year. Loughton also handed out four assists.
Nick D'Antoni scored 10 for the Tribe.
The Monarchs committed only nine turnovers on the night which is theeighth time this season ODU has had ten or less miscues in a game.The 24 wins in a season puts the Monarchs one shy of the school recordof 25 which has been done four times. They were: in 1976-77; 1974-75; 1979-80 and 1998-99.
ODU hosts Hofstra Wednesday night at 7 p.m. That will be senior nightfor the Monarchs lone senior, Kiah Thomas of Norfolk, VA.