NORFOLK, VA—ODU junior forward Javonte Douglas (Charlotte, NC.) scored a career high 16 points along with nine rebounds and senior forward Richard Ross (Wichita Falls, TX.) scored 14, followed by 12 from junior guard Trey Freeman (Virginia Beach, VA.) to lead the Monarchs (11-1) to a 69-35 victory over Mount St. Mary’s Monday night before the seasons second largest home crowd of 8152. ODU, who came into the game with an NCAA RPI of 12 has now won eight in a row and have won 12 straight at home.
After Mount St. Mary's hit a three-pointer for a 3-2 lead, ODU held them scoreless for seven minutes as they took a 13-5 lead with 12:43 left in the half. The Monarchs led by as many as 25 in the first half, 42-17 with 56 seconds left on a dunk by Ross. The overall biggest lead was 39, 64-25 with 8:25 left in the game.
The 35 points by Mount St. Mary’s is the second lowest opponent point total in the 11-year history of the Constant Center. ODU held Northeastern to 34 back on Jan. 5 of 2011.
The Monarchs shot .548 (17-31) from the floor in the first half and .424 (28-66) for the game. The Mount was .220 (11-50), just missing the opponent low at the Ted which was .217 by Toledo in 2007.
The Monarchs dominated the boards, 48-36, committing only nine turnovers and scoring 46 points in the paint to Mount St. Mary’s 12. ODU has outrebounded its last six opponents.
Douglas, who started in the place of an injured sophomore guard Jordan Baker (Hampton, VA.) was six-for-11 from the field and handed out three assists along with two steals in 24 minutes. Sophomore Deion Clark (Naples, FL.) who shared time with Douglas at the same spot scored four points with five rebounds in 16 minutes of play.
Junior guard Aaron Bacote (Hampton, VA. ) dished out a game high six assists, followed by five from Freeman. The Monarchs had 10 steals led by Douglas, sophomore forward Denzell Taylor (Ontario, Canada) and sophomore guard Ambrose Mosley (Jacksonville, FL.) with two each. Mount St. Mary’s was led by Andrew smeathers with 12 points and seven rebounds.
The Monarchs begin Conference-USA play Sunday in Charlotte in a 1 p.m. nationally televised contest from the Halton Arena on the American Sports Network which can be seen in Hampton Roads on WTVZ channel 33 (over the air) and Channel 2 on Cox.
NOTE: the 11-1 start equals the 2004-05 season as the best Division 1 start at ODU. The overall best start with just one loss was the 1969-70 season at 16-1. The 11-1 non-conference record is the best in school history.