Monarch junior guards Trey Freeman (Virginia Beach, VA.) scored 24 and Aaron Bacote (Hampton, Va.) added 16 along with ODU’s strong second half defense as the Monarchs defeated North Texas, 70-57 Saturday evening at the Super Pitt. ODU improves to 22-6 overall and 11-5 in Conference USA. The victory ended UNT’s five-game winning streak and extended ODU’s to four straight.
Trailing, 33-27 at halftime,the Monarchs held UNT to just 24 second half points in the road win. After an opening second half UNT basket, ODU went on a 13-0 run to take a 40-35 lead with 15:36 left in the game. During that rally, Freeman scored eight of ODU’s points in that stretch. Freeman scored 12 points in each half while Bacote added nine in the second.
The Monarchs finished the game shooting .469 (23-49) from the floor, including .591 (13-22) in the second half. UNT was held to .410 (16-39) from the field, including .316 (6-19) in the second half. ODU dominated the boards, 36-24 led by Richard Ross (Wichita Falls, TX.) who grew up about an hour from the Dallas area with eight. Ross blocked two shots along with five points.
Sophomore guard Jordan Baker (Hampton, VA.) scored eight points, but keyed the Monarchs defense with a career high five steals of ODU’s total of nine.The Monarchs also outscored North Texas, 26-6 in the paint and 15-2 off the bench.
North Texas was led by Colin Voss with 16 points, followed by Maurice Aniefiok with 13 and TJ Taylor with 12.
The Monarchs return home for the final two home C-USA games of the regular season against Marshall on March 5 at 8 p.m. and Western Kentucky on Saturday, March 7 (Senior Night) at 5:30 p.m. Both games will be televised nationally by the American Sports Network.
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