Old Dominion beats UNC Wilmington 81-64

NORFOLK

Compared to Saturday's game vs. Virginia Commonwealth, points were available for pennies on the dollar.

Old Dominion converted fast-break baskets in a variety of ways: from steals, blocked shots and long misses by UNC Wilmington. The Monarchs sped to a 20-point halftime lead and then geared down for an 81-64 win at the Constant Center.

For ODU (17-11, 12-4 CAA), the bounce-back win three days after the loss to VCU was another case of holding serve. The Monarchs beat UNCW (9-17, 5-11) for the second time, giving them nine wins over the bottom five of the CAA.

"To this point we've really beat who we could beat and put ourselves in a pretty good spot in this league race," coach Blaine Taylor said. "I think a lot of people would like to be where we're at."

The Monarchs are in fourth place, two games up on Delaware and Georgia State, with two to play. ODU owns a tiebreaker over the Blue Hens, and will play at Georgia State next week.

A slip-up against the Seahawks would have put a dent in ODU's goal of staying in the CAA's top four and getting a bye into the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.

A 19-2 first-half run all but snuffed any upset hopes the Seahawks had. ODU turned a 15-12 deficit into a 31-17 advantage over a 5-1/2-minute stretch.

"We've been at our best all season when we get a rebound, push it down and put pressure on the other team's defense," said guard Kent Bazemore, who led ODU with 23 points.

Bazemore scored nine of ODU's 19 points in that first-half run, on a pair of offensive rebound put-backs - one of which he turned into a 3-point play - a steal and breakaway dunk, and a pull-up jumper.

He made 11 of 18 shots and grabbed eight rebounds.

"I approached the game differently tonight, trying to play with a little swagger," he said.

It rubbed off. Forward Nick Wright, a 6-foot-8 junior, hit 3 of 4 3-pointers. He had made seven all season.

"Coach always says if you're in rhythm, take it, and we're going to rebound the ball because that's what we do best," Wright said. "Tonight they just happened to fall."

ODU shot 51 percent in the first half. The bigger Monarchs scored 55 points in the paint.

They also scored 23 fast-break points. Transition defense has been UNCW's "Achilles heel" all season, coach Buzz Peterson said. The coach made some adjustments, sending two players to the offensive glass, instead of three, which allowed him to keep three players back. Still, not much worked.

Early foul trouble for the 6-foot-8 Keith Randleman, UNCW's best player, didn't help. He picked up his third with 6:10 to go in the first half, during ODU's critical run.

The Seahawks trimmed ODU's lead to 13 early in the second half, but ODU soon had it back to 23. Ten Monarchs played double-figure minutes.

"I thought our energy overcame them," Taylor said.

ODU committed just eight turnovers and held UNCW to 36 percent shooting. Rendleman and guard Adam Smith, the Seahawks' top scorers, shot just 7 of 25.

It was another solid performance from a team that hasn't lost two straight since December, but has three difficult games remaining: at Missouri State on Saturday, at Georgia State next Wednesday, and against Drexel in the regular-season finale Feb. 25.

"It's getting down to the nitty-gritty," Bazemore said.

Ed Miller, 757-446-2372,ed.miller@pilotonline.com