SPORTS: Breaking News: No. 1 ODU leads No. 8 Towson at the half

Taylor Howsmon
Sports Editor

RICHMOND- After battling back and forth with upstart Towson early, the top-seeded monarchs of Old Dominion showed exactly why they captured the CAA regular season crown.
With a 13-10 lead, ODU outscored Towson 26-11 to close the half and jumped to a 39-21 advantage at the break.
The Monarchs embarrassed the Tigers on the boards, out rebounding the eight-seed 26-8 and grabbing 12 offensive rebounds in the first half.
Thanks to this rebounding advantage, the Monarchs were able to score 24 points in the paint and outscore Towson 11-3 on second-chance points.
ODU’s big men. Gerald Lee and Frank Hassell led the way for the blue and white, each tallying eight points. Hassell grabbed nine rebounds as well.
Nine Monarch’s played in half number one and eight scored.
Towson was led by Robert Nwankwo who scored eight and Josh Thornton who contributed seven.
The winner of this game moves on to play the winner of the 2:30 game, which pits no. 4 George Mason and no. 5 VCU.