Jan. 29, 2007
NORFOLK, VA -- The Monarchs stormed to a 25-point lead early and never looked back against Georgia State Monday night. The final deficit for the Panthers was 32 as the Monarchs won 92-57. Old Dominion won with a well-rounded attack with five different players in double figures. Tonight the ESPN Bracketbuster match-ups were announced, as Old Dominion will play on a national telecast at Toledo (11-8/7-0) of the Mid American Conference, February 17. The specific platform (ESPN2, ESPNU, or ESPN 360) will be determined in the near future.
The Monarchs led by 17 at the break behind the inside combo of seniors Arnaud Dahi and Valdas Vasylius. The two combined for 23 points and six rebounds in the first half. Brian Henderson also added eight points while Drew Williamson scored five while dishing five assists. As a team the Monarchs shot 51.4% from the field and were 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.
The second half lead dipped to just 16 points and was at its height when the buzzer sounded as the Monarchs led by 35 at the end of the game. By the end of the night, five different ODU players were in double figures and every single Monarch had at least one rebound and one assist, including newcomer Joshua Russell who played just one minute.
Dahi and Vasylius combined for just five points in the second half in limited minutes. In the extra playing time Gerald Lee and Sam Harris picked up the slack inside. Lee finished with 12 points and seven rebounds while Harris had eight points, five rebounds and four blocks.
As a team the Monarchs shot just as well in the second half to finish with a 51.5 mark from the field on 35-of-68 shooting. They also improved from outside with a 52.9 percentage on 9-of-17 shooting for the game.
Dahi and Willamson led the team with 14 points apiece as Williamson fell just one assist shy of a double-double. He also stole the ball four times. The other players in double-digits were Brian Henderson and Lee with 12 and Vasylius with 11.
Maybe the most astounding statistic in favor of the Monarchs is the 29 assists to Georgia State's eight. On 35 field goals, Old Dominion shared the ball for all but six baskets, while the Panthers were only able to get assists on eight buckets the entire game.
Georgia State was led by Lance Perique with 16 points and seven rebounds. Two other Panthers, Brandon Cartwright and Leonard Mendez, were in double-digits with 12 and 11 respectively. In the percentages, the team shot just 36.1% from the field and a meager 16.7% from beyond the arc. Georgia State turned the ball over 18 times while the Monarchs had that number cut in half, with just 9 giveaways.
The Monarchs hit the road for a three-game road stand starting at Drexel this Thursday night, the George Mason on Saturday. Both gameswill be televised live on ESPNU. ODU will not play at home until February 10, when they host the CAA's top-ranked team in Virginia Commonwealth.
The ESPN Bracketbuster game against Toledo is just one of five Colonial teams to have nationally broadcast games this February 17. Drexel will play at Creighton, George Mason will host Kent State, Hofstra will host Holy Cross and VCU will host Bradley. The CAA is a perfect 4-0 in televised Bracketbuster games in its history.
Toledo and ODU have played twice before. Toledo defeated ODU, 92-80in 1995-96 in Ohio. ODU then defeated the Rockets, 65-57 in Norfolk during the 1996-97 season.