Oct. 31, 2006
NORFOLK, Va. -- The Old Dominion men's basketball team defeated Virginia State, 90-74, in exhibition action at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on Tuesday night.
The Monarchs were led in scoring by senior forward Arnaud Dahi (Ivory Coast, Africa) with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including a three, from the floor and a perfect 7-of-7 performance from the line.
A trio poured in 16 points in starter guards senior Drew Williamson (Burlington, N.C.) and junior Abdi Lidonde (Sutton, Mass.) along with reserve guard Brandon Johnson (Orlando, Fla.). Lidonde also hauled in a team-high five boards.
Virginia State was led by Avis Wyatt with a game-high 29 points and eight rebounds. Jamar Felmming came off the Trojan bench for 15 points, while Michael Askew rounded out the Trojan double figure scorers with 12.
The visitors held an eight point lead early in the first half. Michael Johnson sunk two free throws for the Trojans to give Virginia State a 15-7 lead with 12:24 left in the half. Within two minutes though, Old Dominion managed to erase the deficit with an 8-0 run. Williamson hit a free throw to tie the game at 15-15 and freshman Marsharee Neely (Greensboro, N.C.) jammed in his first points to give Old Dominion its first lead of the game with 10:11 remaining.
Three ties and four lead changes ensued over the course of the next three minutes until Johnson drained a three-pointer to five the Monarchs the lead for good. Johnson, who went 2-of-2 from downtown on the evening, gave the Monarchs a 26-23 edge with 6:48 to go in the opening half.
From there the Old Dominion lead grew to as many as nine. Although Virginia State did cut their deficit to three with just over two and half minutes remaining in the first half, Old Dominion held the Trojans scoreless over the closing minutes while scoring seven unanswered points to take a 10-point, 41-31 halftime edge.
A minute and a half into the second half saw the Monarchs lead grow to 18 as Old Dominion couldn't miss during that stretch. The Monarchs ended up shooting a blistering 73.7 percent from the floor in the second half going 14-of-19 from the field.
The Monarchs led by as much as 24 in half number two. A Lidonde three-pointer, one of four he made during the night, gave Old Dominion a 60-34 advantage with 13:34 left in the game.
Virginia State never managed to trail by single digits but got as close as 11 points with 6:21 on the clock.
The Monarchs ended the night shooting 61.9 percent (26-for-42) from the field and 52.9 percent (9-for-17) from beyond the arc. Virginia State connected on 27-of-66 to finish the game shooting at a 40.9 percent clip.
The Old Dominion men's basketball team returns to action on Monday, November 6th when they host Barton in their final exhibition test before the regular season opens. The 2006-07 season officially kicks off with the Cox Classic with the Monarchs hosting Monmouth, Arkansas State, and Clemson, November 10-12.