Feb. 18, 2006
Final Stats
NORFOLK, Va.-Old Dominion forward Alex Loughton had 27 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Monarchs to an 84-71 defeat of the Marist men's basketball squad Saturday evening at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. The Red Foxes dropped to 16-9 overall, while ODU improved to 19-8. The game, part of the BracketBusters presented by eBay package, was carried on national television courtesy of ESPN2.
Brian Henderson also tallied 20 for the Monarchs, 15 over his season average, on 6-for-8 shooting from 3-point range. Loughton came into the contest averaging 13 per game. The Monarchs' leading scorer, Isaiah Hunter had 16 points, while Arnaud Dahi had 12 points and three blocks. Drew Williamson also posted a career-high 10 assists and three steals.
The Red Foxes were led by junior Will Whittington's (Kingwood, Tx.) 27 points on 7-for-14 shooting from 3-point range. Classmate Jared Jordan (Hartford, Conn.) had his sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 assists. He came into the game leading the nation in assists (8.6) and percentage of team minutes played (97.2 percent). The 6'2 guard played 40 minutes for the fifth straight game and 14th time overall this season. Junior James Smith (Nyack, N.Y.) was the final Marist player to reach double digits with 10 points.
Although the Red Foxes made 11 3-pointers, Jordan and Smith combined for just 2-for-12 from beyond the arc.
Whittington led Marist with five rebounds, while sophomore Shae McNamara (Milwaukee, Wisc.) had a career-high three steals. ODU led Marist in the rebounding battle by a 38-30 margin.
After falling behind by as many as eight (22-14) at the 10:25 mark of the first half, the Red Foxes fought back and took their first and only lead of the game (33-32) at the 4:19 mark on a 3-pointer by Whittington.
However, ODU righted its ship and turned a 37-35 halftime margin into a 54-37 lead at the 14:10 mark of the second half on a layup by Loughton. The lead grew as large as 22 points (75-53) at the 4:42 mark on another layup by Loughton.
For the game, Marist shot just 41.3 percent (26-for-63) from the field, to ODU's 52.7 percent (29-for-55). The Monarchs' field goal percentage was the highest allowed by Marist this season. The Red Foxes made 34.4 percent (11-for-32) of their 3-pointers to ODU's 53.3 percent (8-for-15). Marist had a tough afternoon at the line, making just 8-for-16 (50 percent) to ODU's 81.8 percent (18-for-22).
The Red Foxes were also whistled for 17 fouls to ODU's 15, just the sixth time this season Marist has recorded more fouls than its opponent. Of those six, five have been losses with the lone win coming at Siena in an 85-77 decision on Jan. 13.
The Red Foxes are back in action Thursday, Feb. 23rd against Niagara on Senior Night at 7:15. The game, which will carried by MSG, will be the second half of a doubleheader which features the Marist and Fairfield women at 5 p.m.
