NORFOLK, Va. (March 20, 2006 AP) -- Alex Loughton had 20 points and nine rebounds and Brandon Johnson made two free throws with 11.9 seconds Monday night as Old Dominion held on to beat Manhattan 70-66 in the second round of the NIT.
Jeff Xavier's desperate 3-point heave for Manhattan just before the buzzer spun out.
The Monarchs (23-9) advanced to play at fellow Colonial Athletic Association member Hofstra on Wednesday. The winner of that game moves on to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Xavier scored 19 points and
Jason Wingate 18 for the Jaspers (20-11), who beat Fairleigh Dickinson in the opening round and then won at Maryland in the first round.
Manhattan, which fell behind 57-50 with 2:38 left after Arnaud Dahi led a 9-0 run for the Monarchs, rallied with Xavier, Wingate and
Kenny Minor doing all the Manhattan scoring in a 16-9 run. Wingate's running bank tied it at 66 with 19.2 seconds left.
Johnson then hit his free throws, and after Xavier's near miss, the officials put 1.5 seconds back on the clock and Valdas Vasylius on the foul line for Old Dominion.
The junior made both, depriving the Jaspers of one last improbable chance.
While Loughton was stellar in his last home game at the Constant Convocation Center, fellow senior Isaiah Hunter struggled in his final home game.
Hunter finished 2-for-11 with eight points, but did convert a key twisting drive with 1:56 left before the Monarchs did the rest at the free throw line.
They were 11-for-14 from the line in the last 1:33 and outscored Manhattan 27-14 at the line. Old Dominion also forced 18 turnovers and turned them into 21 points.
