RICHMOND, Va. – Old Dominion’s 86-56 romp over Towson to start Saturday’s quarterfinal action at the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament was an example of thorough domination. But in this game, one thing stood out glaringly, enough so that one had to wonder how Towson even made the two regular season meetings respectable. You didn’t need to look at the stat sheet to know, but a quick look confirms it: the Monarchs did it inside.
Old Dominion held a 60-27 edge on the boards, grabbing 24 offensive rebounds. They turned the offensive rebounds into just 16 second-chance points, but they also held a 44-20 edge in points in the paint. It’s not surprising considering the size advantage the Monarchs have, but they also had a major edge in effort. Quite simply, the Tigers were terrible when it came to boxing out, as a lot of offensive rebounds were easy ones.
In fact, the original final box score the media was handed out needed a correction, and an official noted that the rebounding numbers were off. Anyone who watched the game probably figured no one would have noticed. (The Tigers had one more rebound in the official box than the one that first came out.)
The Monarchs have used their size advantage well most of the season. They are the best rebounding team in the conference by a good margin as they out-rebound opponents by near eight per game. The players say they devote a lot of time in practice to rebounding, fully aware that size alone doesn’t make a rebounder. It’s clear they’ve taken it to heart.
On Saturday, the Monarchs got rebounding as well as scoring all over, a stark contrast to the Tigers. The Monarchs are a very deep team, and the bench scoring stat would jump out at anyone as they had a 41-0 advantage. And as if that wasn’t enough, the bench also had a big hand in the rebounding numbers. Keyon Carter grabbed nine boards to go with 16 points, while Marsharee Neely had six to go with 11 points. Marquel De Lancey was the only Monarch not to get a rebound.
“We just had players coming from all angles getting rebounds,” said head coach Blaine Taylor.
That’s certainly one way of putting it.
Those efforts went with Frank Hassell posting a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds and active guard Kent Bazemore grabbing nine.
The Monarchs are long and deep, and looked very much like a No. 1 seed on Saturday. They played to their strength and a clear weakness of their opponent, as Towson was out-rebounded consistently this season. It was never a competitive game in the second half.
Taylor likes having this depth, which can serve his team well should they reach the championship game on Monday night. It’s a key part of how he’s built this program, and it may pay big dividends again soon.
