Quarterfinal No. 1: Old Dominion Crushes Towson, 86-56

Saturday’s first quarterfinal at the CAA Tournament was never in much doubt.

Regular season champion Old Dominion improved to 24-8 on the season with an emphatic 86-56 victory over eighth-seeded Towson. The Monarchs will next face the winner of the 4/5 quarterfinal between George Mason and VCU in Sunday’s first semifinal.

Gerald Lee led the four Monarchs who reached double figures on the afternoon with 17, while Keyon Carter scored 16. Frank Hassell ended up with a double-double, scoring 11 and grabbing 11 boards. The Tigers’ Josh Thornton led all scorers with 18 points despite a cold five for 18 performance from the field.

Towson’s inability to make shots, especially from the perimeter, did them in. The Tigers only shot 32 percent from the field for the game, making only four of 21 from beyond the arc (19 percent).

Given the Monarchs’ size advantage, that wasn’t quite what the Tigers needed. Towson simply had no answer for Old Dominion’s inside game. The Monarchs scored 44 points in the paint, compared 20 for the Tigers. ODU also more than doubled up Towson on the boards, grabbing 60, compared to the Tigers’ 26, which meant the top seed ended up with plenty of second chance points, 16, but surprisingly few transition baskets. Old Dominion scored 14 points off 12 Towson turnovers, but none of those came on fast breaks.

The Monarchs asserted their dominance late in the first half. Towson was within four with 9:31 to go, but ODU went on a 20-6 run over the second half of the period to take a 39-21 lead going into the break.

The ease of the win means Old Dominion head coach Blaine Taylor got to use his regulars sparingly. Lee and Hassell racked up their numbers in only 20 minutes, while Darius James (5 points) led all Monarchs by playing for 26 minutes on the afternoon.