Dec. 19, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Old Dominion men's basketball team handed No. 11 Georgetown its first loss of the season Saturday evening as the Monarchs led wire-to-wire in a 61-57 win over the Hoyas at McDonough Arena.
Old Dominion (7-4) has now picked up consecutive victories over ranked Georgetown teams at McDonough Arena. The Monarchs upended the then-No. 8 Hoyas, 75-62, the last time the squads met in the nation's capitol three years ago. ODU is the only team since 1982 to beat Georgetown in the 2,400-seat gymnasium, where the Hoyas average one game a year as a break from their usual home at the Verizon Center.
Old Dominion capitalized on 18 Georgetown (8-1) turnovers and led by as many as 18 points in the second half. Junior guard Ben Finney led three Monarchs in double figures with 13 points. Finney and sophomore Trian Iliadis combined to go 6-of-8 from three-point range.
The win was ODU's 10th over a ranked team since the 1976-77 season.
Old Dominion saw its 18-point lead shrink to a two-point advantage as the Hoyas staged a massive second half rally. Georgetown's Greg Monroe made one-of-two free throws with 1:17 remaining to cut the Monarch lead to 59-57.
On ODU's ensuing possession junior Keyon Carter missed a short jumper, but classmate Frank Hassell connected on the put-back to give the Monarchs a four-point lead with 41 seconds to go.
Georgetown's Jason Clark then missed a three-pointer, Monroe couldn't convert the offensive rebound and Chris Wright committed a turnover for the Hoyas. ODU then turned the ball back over to Georgetown, but Austin Freeman missed a pair of three's in the final 15 seconds.
Monroe finished with 15 points and seven rebounds for the Hoyas. Freeman and Julian Vaugn each tallied 13 points for Georgetown in the loss.
The Monarchs sprinted out to an early lead, scoring the first six points of the contest. A stingy ODU defense held Georgetown without a bucket for the first three minutes of the game until Freeman drilled a three-point field goal to get the Hoyas on the board.
After the Freeman triple, Finney responded with a three of his own to build ODU's lead back to six. Finney netted a team-high 10 points in the opening stanza.
The Monarchs would maintain their edge throughout the first half, never leading by less than six. ODU led by as many as 12 and went into intermission up 32-21.
Old Dominion now leads the all-time series against Georgetown, 3-2. All three ofthe Monarchs wins have come in McDonough. ODU beat the Hoyas in 1976-77 during theECAC South title game, in 2006-07 and now this season.
The Monarchs will return home on Wednesday, Dec. 23 to take on Charlotte. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. at the Constant Center.
-ODU-