Feb. 3, 2010
NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion held its 10th opponent under 50 points and dominated on the boards with a 48-25 edge in a wire-to-wire 61-42 victory over Colonial Athletic Association rival William & Mary Wednesday evening in front of over 8,000 fans at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
Old Dominion (18-6, 10-2 CAA), which has won nine of its last 10 games, has now won 20 consecutive home games. The home winning streak is the sixth longest in the nation.
The Monarchs are currently in a three-way tie for first-place in the league with Northeastern and George Mason.
Junior Frank Hassell led all Monarchs with a game-high 15 points to go along with nine rebounds. Classmate Ben Finney tied his career-high with 11 rebounds.
Old Dominion, which entered the contest as the nations 14th best team in rebounding margin (+8.2), pulled down 23 offensive rebounds to go along with 25 on the defensive end. The Tribe had only 25 total rebounds.
William & Mary (15-7, 7-5) shot 33.3 percent from the field and had no scorers in double-figures. Seven of ODU's last eight opponents have shot 36-percent or lower from the field.
The Monarchs got off to a quick start, getting four different buckets from four different players to go up 8-0. After a timeout the Tribe immediately responded, going on a 7-0 run which was capped by a David Schneider three.
ODU never allowed William & Mary to get the lead though, going on a 13-3 run to take a 21-10 lead at the 6:44 mark of the opening half. The Monarchs held a seven-point edge (29-22) at halftime.
A three-point field goal from Quinn McDowell to start the second half cut ODU's advantage to four, but the Tribe would get no closer. The Monarchs went on a 9-2 spurt and a Keyon Carter jumper gave ODU a 38-27 lead at the 14:49 mark.
With an 11-point advantage later in the half, the Monarchs would seal the game with a 14-2 run. ODU took its largest lead of the night as Hassell capped the spurt with a traditional three-point play which left the Monarchs up 61-38 with just over two minutes remaining. Six different players scored during the run, including Hassell, who had five of the points.
Old Dominion heads back on the road on Saturday, Feb. 6 to take on Virginia Commonwealth. Tip-time is set for 4 p.m. from the Siegel Center. The game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet.
-ODU-