Feb. 9, 2006
NORFOLK, VA--Junior forward Valdas Vasylius (Klaipeda, Lithuania) tallied 21 points, including one thunderous slam, and the Old Dominion Monarchs cruised to an 81-60 defeat of William & Mary on Thursday at the Ted Constant Center. ODU brings their record to 17-7 overall, and 10-4 in conference play. The Tribe drops to 7-15 (2-11) on the year. Senior forward Alex Loughton (Perth, Australia) chipped in with 17 points, while guard Abdi Lidonde scored 12 points and hauled in a career-high eight rebounds.
ODU held a slight 9-8 lead with 15:08 left in the half, when Lidonde drilled back-to-back treys to put the Monarchs up by 5. Then, with Old Dominion holding a 22-13 lead midway through the first half, Vasylius two-handed slammed a dunk that brought the goalpost down, and delayed the game for a minute. Vasylius would continue to do his part to extend the ODU lead, as his three pointer brought the score to 38-22 with 1:41 left in the half. Loughton would finish off the ODU first half scoring with a lay-up to bring the halftime score to 40-29.
Old Dominion heated up behind the arc in the second half, and it was consecutive three-pointers from Vasylius and John Morris that gave the Monarchs a 62-37 lead with 11:22 left in the game. Another trey from Vasylius gave ODU a 31 point lead, their largest of the night, as the score went to 74-43 with 7:03 left. The Monarchs would empty their bench at that point, as the final score would wind up at 81-60.
On the night, ODU controlled the boards by a 40-30 margin, and dished out a season-high 28 assists to the Tribe's 11. Junior guard Drew Williamson (Burlington, NC) dished out a team-high six assists, while freshman Jonathan Adams fed out a career-high five dimes. Adams also set a career-high in rebounds with six. The Monarchs also only turned the ball over seven times compared to William& Mary's 18.
ODU shot .545% from the field in the second half, and .571 in the second half. Vasylius drained 3 of his 4 three-point attempts, and he also snared eight rebounds. Senior guard Isaiah Hunter (Charlotte, NC) returned to action after missing the past two games and earned three assists in 12 minutes of action.
For the Tribe, freshman guard Calvin Baker scored a team-high 12 points and dished out four assists, and Taylor Mokris added 11.
Old Dominion looks to advance up the CAA standings on Saturday as they travel to Richmond to take on rival Virginia Commonwealth at 6:00 p.m. The Monarchs return home Wednesday night to host Georgia State at 7:00 p.m. On the following Saturday, the Monarchs will participate in ESPN's Bracket Buster event as they will host Marist at 4:00 p.m. The contest will be televised live nationally on ESPN2.