Box Score COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior Michael Scott (Hebron, Ky.) broke the school record for assists in a season with 157 as the point guard finished with his third career double-double with 11 points and 10 assists in a 78-67 win over Alderson Broaddus Saturday in Alumni Hall.
Scott passed Mike Bell from the 1995-96 season on his 10th assist of the game as he found Varence with 34 seconds remaining.
Senior Hasan Varence (Queens, New York) also had a double-double, his 15th of the season, en route to a career-high 34 points on 15-of-21 shooting while grabbing 11 rebounds. Fellow senior Sam Hickey (Toledo, Ohio) had 15 points and grabbed six rebounds while dishing out three assists.
The Panthers jumped out to a 7-2 lead early in the game before AB had a 10-4 run to take their first lead of the game at 12-11. With the Panthers leading 22-21, AB went on a 7-0 run to take a 28-22 lead before the Panthers closed the half on a 15-2 run to take a 37-30 lead into the locker rooms. Varence poured in 18 points in the half on 8-of-11 shooting while Scott had five points and eight assists in the half.
ODU opened their largest lead of the game at 52-37 on a Hickey layup and again at 54-39 on a Varence hook shot with 14:45 remaining. The Panthers would maintain a lead between seven and 12 points throughout the rest of the contest as ODU and the Battlers traded shot-for-shot the final 14 minutes.
The Panthers outscored the Battlers 46-28 in the paint as ODU shot 56.4% in the game (31-for-55) which included 43.8% from behind the arc (7-for-16). Defensively, the Panthers held the Battlers to 42.4% shooting (25-of-59) and 34.4% (11-for-32) from three. ODU also outrebounded the Battlers 37-24 in the win and led the contest for 31:58.
The Panthers now advance to 12-15 on the season and are 8-9 in the G-MAC while Alderson Broaddus falls to 8-19 overall and 6-11 in the conference.
After having the midweek off, ODU hosts Trevecca Nazarene for Senior Day next Saturday, February 29 with tip slated for 12 p.m. where the seniors will be honored before the game.
