Feb. 23, 2005
NORFOLK, VA -The Old Dominion men's basketball team was unable to connect on a late three point attempt Wednesday night, as the Monarchs fell to the Hofstra Pride 66-63. Alex Loughton (Perth, Australia) led the Monarchs with a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds, as ODU fell to 24-5 overall and 14-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Pride improve to 19-7 and 11-6 in the CAA.
<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
Hofstra dominated the early portion of the first half, racing off to a 10-0 lead by the 17:13 mark. A lay-up by Valdas Vasylius (Klaipeda, Lithuania) ended the Monarch scoreless drought, to cut the lead to 10-2, but by the 12:26 mark, the Pride took a 12-point lead, 18-6. The Monarchs were able to climb back into the half, however, after Hofstra failed to score a point during a 6:30 stretch. The Pride's scoreless drought allowed the Monarchs to tie the game at 18-18 with 6:00 remaining in the half, before a free throw by Hofstra's Wendell Gibson put the Pride back on top by a point, 19-18. The Pride held a three-point lead, 26-23, with 4:33 left, but the Monarchs went on a 6-0 run to take a 29-26 lead into the half. The run was capped by Isaiah Hunter's (Charlotte, NC) lay-up with four seconds remaining.
Hofstra started strong in the second half, taking a four point lead, 38-34, at the 16:31 mark. A three-pointer by Brandon Johnson (Orlando, FL) closed the gap to 38-37, but by the 8:07 mark, Hofstra took a 52-43 lead. ODU cut the lead down to two points at the 3:12 mark, off a Brandon Johnson fastbreak lay-up, and a three-pointer by Isaiah Hunter moments later, gave ODU the 59-58 lead. Hofstra's Antoine Agudio connected on one of his two free throw attempts to tie the game at 59-59, and a lay-up by Mike Radziejewski put the Pride back on top 61-59 with 1:31 left in the game. A pair of free throws by Loren Stokes put Hofstra up by four, 63-59, with 1:12 remaining, but Alex Loughton answered with a pair of free throws of his own to cut the deficit to 63-61 with just over a minute left. Antoine Agudio once again connected on one of his two free throw attempts moments later to give Hofstra the 66-63 lead, which proved to be the final score. The Monarchs were unable to get off a three-point shot, and Valdas Vasylius missed both free throw attempts late in the half.
Alex Loughton's double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds led the Monarch effort. Brandon Johnson added 12, Isaiah Hunter had 10 and senior Kiah Thomas (Norfolk, VA/Granby) had 10 points in his final regular season home game. For Hofstra, both Mike Radziejewski and Loren Stokes had 16 points, while Antoine Agudio added 13. As a team, Hofstra out-shot the Monarchs 42.9% (24-of-56) to 34.5% (19-of-55), and the Pride also had a 40-36 rebounding edge. Hofstra won its 1,000th game in program history, while the Monarchs dropped their first home game of the season (14-1).
The Monarchs finish the regular season Saturday night, February 26, when they travel to Harrisonburg, VA to face James Madison. The game tips off at 7:00.