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Old Dominion 77, Howard 57

NORFOLK -- Guard Jordan Baker scored eight straight points during a 10-3 Old Dominion spurt to open the second half and the Monarchs cruised past the Howard Bison 77-57 Wednesday night at the Constant Center.

The victory was the first at Old Dominion for coach Jeff Jones, who took over the Monarchs after racking up 353 wins in 21 years at Virginia and American.

The Monarchs (1-1) led 35-29 at halftime, then began their decisive run on forward Denzell Taylor's layup. Baker then sandwiched back-to-back three-pointers around a three by Howard swingman James Daniel before a fast-break layup from Baker gave Old Dominion a 45-32 lead at the first media timeout.

Howard (2-1) would not get closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Guard Aaron Bacote scored 20 points to lead five Old Dominion players in double figures. Baker added 13 points while guard Dimitri Batten added 12 and Taylor and forward Richard Ross each chipped in 10 for the Monarchs, who prevailed despite 13 of 29 shooting from the free throw line. Ross also contributed 12 rebounds and six blocks.

Daniel led all scorers with 26 points, swingman James Miller added 10 and swingman Prince Okoroh added eight for Howard. The Bison shot just 29.2 percent from the field and connected on just 12 of their 24 free throws.