NORFOLK, VA—ODU junior forward Richard Ross scored a career high 23 points and hauled down 10 rebounds to lead the Monarchs (18-17) to an 82-59 victory over Radford in the quarterfinals of the College Basketball Invitational at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
The Monarchs, the nation's second most improved team over a year ago now advance to Wednesday’s semifinals at Fresno State (19-16) in the Save Smart Center. Tip-off is set for 10 p.m. (EST), and the game can be heard on ESPN 94.1 FM in the Hampton Roads area. Fresno State is a member of the Mountain West Conferencem which will also exclusively broadcast tomorrow's CBI semifinal game between Fresno State and Old Dominion. There will be several locations where the game can be located, including the primary "Watch Live" page at http://www.themw.com/#!/watch-live and the live stats "Game Center" at http://www.themw.com/#!/GameCenter/53315d74e4b0495ecc40a244?sport=m-baskbl.
In the other CBI quarterfinal games, Illinois State defeated Texas A&M, 62-55; Fresno State defeated Princeton, 72-56 and Siena defeated Penn State 54-52.
In all, five Monarchs scored in double figures. Joining Ross was Dimitri Batten with 14, Ambrose Mosley with 15, while Aaron Bacote and Keenan Palmore each had 10 points.
The Monarchs went out to a 21-7 lead with 13:08 left in the first half after a three-pointer by Ambrose Mosley. The lead grew to 18 at 27-9 with 8:31 left after two Richard Ross free throws, and ODU went into the locker room at halftime with a 39-23 lead thanks to a 26-18 rebound margin and .464 (13-28) shooting from the field, while Radford was .300 (9-30).
In the second half Radford cut ODU’s lead to 11 at 43-32 on a three-pointer by Ya Ya Anderson at 17:08, but the Monarchs went on a 13-3 run for a 56-35 lead after a Dimitri Batten three-pointer with 12:59 left in the game. The largest Monarch lead of the game was 30, at 80-50 with 2:59 left.
ODU finished the game shooting .518 (29-56) from the floor and dominating the boards, 44-29. Ross led with 10 rebounds followed by seven from Keenan Palmore and five by Mosley. Palmore and Ross both led in assists with four each.
Radford was led by Javonte Green with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Ya Ya Anderson added 11 points. The Highlanders shot. 370 (20-54) from the floor.