Nov. 26, 2005
Box Score
NORFOLK, VA-- Junior forward Arnaud Dahi (Ivory Coast) dropped in 22 points on Saturday night to lead the Old Dominion Monarchs to an 80-57 victory over Mount St. Mary's in their regular season home opener. Dahi shot 9 for 10 on the night and also grabbed seven rebounds. Dahi's performance follows his effort last Monday night against Wisconsin when he scored a career-high 25 points. The Monarchs improved to 3-1 on the season, while the Mountaineers dropped to 1-2. Senior forward Alex Loughton (Perth, Australia) contributed 14 points and eight rebounds for Old Dominion.
Mount St. Mary's kept it close in the first half, getting within two when Landy Thompson drained a three-pointer to bring the score to 23-21 with 7:38 remaining in the period. Old Dominion would answer with an 18-4 run that spanned the remainder of the first half. Two lay-ups by sophomore Brandon Johnson (Orlando, Fl) and a trey by junior guard John Morris (Camp Hill, PA) were the catalysts during ODU's run that broke the game open.
ODU would continue to increase the gap in the second half, gaining their biggest lead of the night with 2:15 remaining when sophomore center Sam Harris (Newnham, Tasmania) drained a baby hook, Dahi converted a lay-up, and senior guard Isaiah Hunter (Charlotte, NC) scored on a layup and free throw to bring the score to 80-54.
Old Dominion shot an efficient 60% from the field on the evening, led by Dahi's near-perfect effort. Loughton made five of his six field goal attempts as well. ODU also rebounded the Mountaineers by a 36-22 margin.
Hunter finished with 11 points, and junior forward Valdas Vasylius (Klaipeda, Lithuania) tied Dahi for the team-high with eight rebounds. Junior guard Drew Williamson (Burlington, NC) led the Monarchs with five assists.
For the Mountaineers, Sam Atupem scored 14 points off of 7 for 10 shooting to lead his team. Mychal Kearse added 13 points and a team-high four assists for Mount St. Mary's.
Old Dominion returns to action next Wednesday as they travel to VMI for a 7:00 p.m. road contest. ODU will return home the following Saturday as they host East Carolina at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.