Senior Valdas Vasylius scored 27 points, just two off his career high, to lead Old Dominion to a 73-67 victory over Northeastern in CAA action on Wednesday night at Matthews Arena. The ODU win snaps an 11-game home winning streak by the Huskies.
Vasylius connected on 9-of-11 shots from the floor and hit 8-of-9 from the free throw line, while grabbing five rebounds in sending Northeastern (3-10, 1-1 CAA) to its first home loss since Jan. 2, 2006. The 11-game home winning streak was the team's longest since the 1991 season, when the Huskies won 13-straight at home en route to a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The Monarchs (9-4, 2-0 CAA) trailed by three, at 19-16, after a jumper by NU senior Adrian Martinez and resulting free throw on the foul. However, head coach Blaine Taylor's Monarchs rattled off 14 consecutive points to push the game to 30-19 in favor on ODU. Vasylius, who went off for 17 in the first half on a perfect effort, 6-for-6 from the floor and 4-of-4 at the stripe, fueled the Monarch run. However, the Huskies rallied in the final 2:15 of the half with a 7-0 stretch to enter the half trailing by just five.
Old Dominion looked to have the game in check early in the second half, by pushing its lead into double digits. Just eight minutes into the period, ODU led by 15 at 52-37. But in a span of just 3:15, the Huskies climbed right back into the game, with a 14-2 run that included three 3-point buckets and three Old Dominion turnovers. However, the Monarchs maintained their lead with a 50 percent shooting effort in the second half, and 51 percent overall, while NU connected on just 33.3 percent for the game.
The Huskies made one final run at the Monarchs down the stretch, after freshman Matt Janning nailed a three from long range and drew the foul. He converted the free throw to cut NU's deficit to just three at 70-67, but junior Brian Henderson hit a pair of clutch free throws with 0:19 remaining and NU missed its final two field goal attempts to take the loss.
Joining Vasylius in the effort, junior Brandon Johnson notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Henderson finished with 13 points. Senior Drew Williamson turned in seven points with seven assists and three steals, and the Monarchs outrebounded NU, 41-26, for the game.
Senior Bobby Kelly led all Northeastern scorers with 18 points to match his season high, while senior Bennet Davis and Janning each added 15. Senior Adrian Martinez scored nine and sophomore Eugene Spates chipped in with seven points. The Huskies hit 10-of-29 from three-point range.
The Huskies hit the road with weekend with a stop in Williamsburg, Va., to take on William & Mary on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. The game will be broadcast regionally at 2 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
Old Dominion vs Northeastern
01/03/07 7:00 pm at Matthews Arena (Boston, MA)
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VISITORS: Old Dominion 9-4, 2-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 Johnson, Brandon.... * 4-8 1-3 4-4 2 8 10 4 13 3 3 0 2 34
10 Williamson, Drew.... * 3-6 0-2 1-2 1 3 4 3 7 7 3 1 3 35
20 Henderson, Brian.... * 4-7 1-4 4-4 0 3 3 2 13 0 2 0 0 29
31 Dahi, Arnaud........ * 2-7 0-0 0-1 2 9 11 4 4 1 4 1 1 25
42 Vasylius, Valdas.... * 9-11 1-2 8-9 2 3 5 2 27 1 1 0 1 26
11 Lidonde, Abdi....... 1-4 1-4 1-2 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 0 0 10
12 Lee, Gerald......... 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 3 2 1 3 0 0 16
23 Neely, Marsharee.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
30 Harris, Sam......... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 5
34 Adams, Jonathan..... 0-1 0-0 1-2 0 5 5 2 1 0 0 0 0 18
TEAM................ 1
Totals.............. 25-49 4-16 19-24 8 33 41 21 73 13 18 2 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-23 52.2% 2nd Half: 13-26 50.0% Game: 51.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-9 77.8% 2nd Half: 12-15 80.0% Game: 79.2% 2
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HOME TEAM: Northeastern 3-10, 1-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 Martinez, Adrian.... * 3-6 2-3 1-2 2 1 3 2 9 2 1 0 1 19
14 Davis, Bennet....... * 4-10 2-4 5-7 2 3 5 3 15 1 5 1 0 35
22 Kelly, Bobby........ * 5-13 3-7 5-5 0 4 4 3 18 1 4 0 1 39
23 Janning, Matt....... * 4-13 2-9 5-5 1 1 2 4 15 4 1 0 2 39
24 Spates, Eugene...... * 2-8 1-4 2-3 0 1 1 4 7 0 1 0 1 19
25 Bataille, Baptiste.. 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 4
32 Adako, Manny........ 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 4 4 3 0 1 0 0 1 19
50 Washington, Mark.... 1-1 0-0 1-2 1 3 4 2 3 1 1 0 0 26
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 19-57 10-29 19-24 9 17 26 21 67 11 14 1 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-29 31.0% 2nd Half: 10-28 35.7% Game: 33.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-12 33.3% 2nd Half: 6-17 35.3% Game: 34.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-9 77.8% 2nd Half: 12-15 80.0% Game: 79.2% 1,2
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Officials: Jeff Clark, Gary Pucino, Eric Britto
Technical fouls: Old Dominion-None. Northeastern-None.
Attendance: 650
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Old Dominion.................. 34 39 - 73
Northeastern.................. 29 38 - 67
Points in the paint-ODU 26,NU 10. Points off turnovers-ODU 14,NU 18.
2nd chance points-ODU 10,NU 12. Fast break points-ODU 4,NU 4.
Bench points-ODU 9,NU 3. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-4 times.
Last FG-ODU 2nd-02:03, NU 2nd-00:23.
