Dec. 2, 2009
RICHMOND, Va. - Despite leading by as many as 11 points in the first half, the Old Dominion men's basketball team dropped a 67-60 non-conference game to Richmond at the Robins Center Wednesday evening.
Junior Keyon Carter led ODU (4-3) with 12 points, scoring 10 in the second half. Senior Gerald Lee and junior Darius James each chipped in nine points. All of James' season-high tying nine points came in the first half.
Richmond had five players in double figures, including Justin Harper, who scored a game-high 14 points. The Spiders only got three points from their bench, who played limited minutes.
Trailing 13-11 in the opening stanza of play, the Monarchs picked up their defensive intensity. ODU held Richmond scoreless for a 7:21 span and went on a 13-0 run to take a 24-13 lead.
The Spiders would cut the Monarch lead down to as little as four points, but a pair of free throws from Trian Iliadis and a James three as time expired would send ODU into halftime with a 31-22 advantage.
Richmond's 22 points in the first half were the lowest its scored in any half this season.
The Spiders responded in the second half, going on a 15-2 run, including an 8-0 spurt right out of the locker room.
The Monarchs kept the game close, closing to within one (42-41) on a triple by Carter. However, Richmond put together another run, this time a 15-4 outbreak to grab a commanding 57-45 lead with less than six minutes remaining.
Carter's second three of the half would pull ODU to within six (64-58) but a Ryan Butler three-point field goal from the left wing with under two minutes remaining would prove to be the dagger as the Monarchs would get no closer than six the rest of the way.
Old Dominion held a 33-29 rebounding advantage, but Richmond went 22-of-24 from the free throw line and shot 60-percent from the field in the second half.
The Monarchs will return home on Saturday to open up Colonial Athletic Association play against Delaware. ODU opened CAA play last season at home against UD and topped the Blue Hens, 56-49. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the Constant Center.
-ODU-