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RICHMOND, Va.- Troy Daniels made three 3-pointers during an 11-0 second-half run Saturday night, breaking open a close game and lifting Virginia Commonwealth to a 61-48 victory against Old Dominion.ODU was Led by Kent Bazemore with 15 points and ChrisCooper aded 14 with nine rebounds. This was the Monarchs first CAA road lossof the season.
Daniels scored 16 points and Darius Theus had 15 to lead the Rams (15-5, 6-2 Colonial Athletic Association), who opened a 49-35 lead after the burst and pulled even with the Monarchs in the CAA standings. The teams trail only George Mason, which improved to 7-1 earlier Saturday.
ODUjumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game after a Bazemorelayup, but the Rams rallied to tie the game at 7-7 on a Bradford Burgess basketat the 14:23 mark of the half.
There were seven ties in the first half and after a Bazemore driving layup tied itat 23-23 with 2:52 left, VCU would outscore the Monarchs 9-2 for a 32-25 halftimelead.
In the second half, ODU cut the Rams lead to three,38-35 with 14:33 left aftertwo free throws by Nick Wright, but VCU would go on a 11-0 run before the sellout crowd at VCU's Siegel Center, and the Monarchs never got closer than nine after that.
The Rams turned ODU's 25 miscues into 26 points and were actually a tad worse in also shooting 38 percent, but they made seven 3-pointers. ODU shot .383 from thefield.
ODU outrebounded the Rams, 41-33. Besides Cooper's nine boards, Nick Wright hauledin seven, Bazemore eight and Richard Ross had six boards. ODU had 17 offensiverebounds, but VCU add 14 offensive boards.
Donte Hill who scored six points in the first half for ODU led both teams with fourassists and a career high five steals.
ODU hosts Northeastern Monday night at 7 p.m.