NORFOLK, VA—ODU junior guard Trey Freeman (Virginia Beach, VA.) scored 24 and sophomore guard Ambrose Mosley (Jacksonville, FL.) added 17 to help lead the Monarchs to a 69-62 victory over William and Mary before a crowd of 7796 at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. ODU, who came in with an NCAA RPI of 14 has now won seven straight games.
The Monarchs led by five, 31-26 at halftime, but two free throws by Daniel Dixon with 16:10 remaining put the Tribe up 33-32. The contests was tied at 39 with 12:53 left after a marcus Thornton basket, but Trey Freeman made two straight baskets to give the Monarchs a 43-39 lead with 11:57 left. Graduate student Jonathan Arledge (Silver spring, MD.)then hit a jumper and Ambrose Mosley knocked down a three-pointer on an assist from Freeman and the Monarchs bolted to a 48-39 lead with 9:18 left before Greg Malinowski hit a free throw for the Tribe to break ODU’s run.
ODU would eventually lead by as much as 13 twice, 55-42 at the 6:02 mark after an Aaron Bacote (Hampton, VA.) three-pointer and 63-50 after two Freeman free throws with 2:51 left.
The Tribe cut the lead to five, 67-62 after Thornton’s two free throws, but Freeman came right back with two free throws for the final score of 69-62.
ODU again dominated the boards, 41-24, including 15 offensive rebounds led by sophomore forward Denzell Taylor (Ontario, Canada) who hauled down a game high 10 rebounds, his second straight with 10 or more. Taylor also had four assists and a steal on the night. ODU shot .429 (24-56) from the field, while W&M shot .457 (21-46). Freeman added six rebounds, follwed by Arledge with five.
W&M was led in scoring by Marcus Thornton with 22 points, followed by Danile Dixon with 16 and Omar Prewitt with 15.
The Monarchs break for Christmas and return to action on Monday, Dec. 29 with an 8 p.m. contest against NEC Champion Mount St. Mary’s which will be televised live on the American Sports Network (Shown on WTVZ in Hampton Roads).
NOTE: The 2004-05 squad started the season 11-1 before losing at Depaul on Jan. 2. That is the best start in ODU Div. I history. The 1969-70 team started the season with a 16-1 mark before losing the second game on Feb. 9 to East Carolina.