Dec. 17, 2005
NORFOLK, VA--Senior guard Isaiah Hunter (Charlotte, NC) and junior forward Arnaud Dahi (Ivory Coast, Africa) each poured in 18 points to lead the Old Dominion University Monarchs to their biggest win of the season, an 87-43 defeat over BIG EAST member DePaul on Saturday at the Ted Constant Center. All 5 of Hunter's field goals were three-pointers, and four of those treys came in the second half. The 44 point margin of victory was ODU's largest since November 27th, 2004 when they eased past Shawnee State by 46, and was also DePaul's worst loss in program history. Old Dominion improves to 7-2 on the season with the win, while DePaul drops to 5-4.
ODU never trailed in this contest, jumping out to a 10-4 lead early in the first half and never looking back. DePaul cut the margin to 3 at 25-22 with 1:06 left in the half and that was close as they would get for the duration of the game.
Hunter was the catalyst for the Monarchs as they broke the game wide open early in the second half. An alley-oop assist to Dahi and three consecutive treys saw the Monarchs extend their lead to 47-30 with 12:56 left to go in regulation. The Monarchs would then go on a 27-6 run that spanned the next 8:04 of play, featuring three pointers from Dahi, sophomore forward Brian Henderson (Richmond, VA), and junior guard Drew Williamson (Burlington, NC). ODU would finish the game as strong as they started it, as junior guard John Morris (Camp Hill, PA) drilled a deep three pointer with .20 seconds remaining to give the Monarchs their largest lead of the night-44 point.
For the game, Old Dominion shot 57.4% from the field, including 66.7% in the second half. ODU also connected on 12 of 23 three point attempts for a 52.2% clip. Hunter was 5-8 from three point land, and Henderson was 3-4. ODU's defense held DePaul in check, limiting them to 24.1% shooting from the field, a season low.
Williamson set a new career high mark in assists, dishing out a game-high to go along with his nine points. Hunter also tied his career high in rebounds as he snagged a team-high 9 boards on the day. Senior forward Alex Loughton (Perth, Australia) scored 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds, and Henderson scored 11 points and dished out four assists.
For the Blue Demons, Draelon Burns scored a team-high 8 points. Karron Clarke and Marcus Heard both added 7 apiece.
ODU returns to action Tuesday night as they travel to Richmond for a 7:00 p.m. contest. The Monarchs will then travel to University of Alabama-Birmingham on Thursday for an 8:30 p.m. matchup.