By Ed Morrone

Isaiah Hunter was back and better than ever for Old Dominion. After missing the Feb.2, 65-63, last-second loss tothe Pride due to injury, Hunter torched the Blue & Gold for 29points en route to a 61-51 Monarch win in last night's quarterfinals of the NIT at Hofstra Arena. The loss ended one of the most successful seasons ever in program history and also snapped the team's 21-game home winning streak. "It was just one of those nights,"

Pride head coach Tom Pecora said. "Early on we made jumpers, but nothing rolled in for us after. There are no excuses from this end, but I'm very proud of what we accomplished." For Old Dominion (24-9), it was all about Hunter.

The senior guard was unstoppable throughout, shooting 10-for-19 from the fi eld (4-for-9 on three pointers) while adding six rebounds. He scored 19 of his 29 points after halftime, and put the Monarchs on his back every time the Pride (26-7) tried to regain momentum. "He brings great confi dence and charisma to the table," Old Dominion head coach Blaine Taylor said of Hunter.

"He didn't play here last time, so it meant a lot to him. He played an awfully good game." The Monarchs will take on the winner of the Michigan-Miamigame in Tuesday night's semifinals at Madison Square Garden, a place the Pride desperately had hoped to play in.

Behind a raucous crowd of 5,047 at Hofstra Arena, the Blue & Gold controlled the tempo early on in a hard-fought fi rst half. Junior guard Carlos Rivera's three-pointer as time expired sent the Pride into the break with a 30-24 lead and an Adrian Uter putback pushed the lead to eight to start the second half, but led by Hunter, ODU gradually closed the gap.

Hunter scored the first 10 points of the half for the Monarchs, and his jumper from the left corner with 2:22 remaining put ODU up 53-49 and defl ated the Pride for good. A pair of Loren Stokes free throws cut the deficit down to two, but missed shots and Hunter's fi ve free throws in the fi nal minute ended the home team's chances.

Antoine Agudio led the Pride with 13 points, but never got ontrack and shot a miserable 6-for- 23 from the field, including 1-for-11 behind the arc. Stokes added 12 points and seven rebounds, and seniors Uter and Aurimas Kieza ended their careers with seven and five points, respectively. "We wanted to prove we belonged, but we just fell short tonight," Agudio said.

The Pride had a great chance to advance to the Garden, but a dismal second half did the team in. After shooting 41.4 percent in the first half, the Blue & Gold converted just 8-of-34 (23.5 percent) after intermission. Old Dominion's defense was fantastic as well, completely shutting the door on a Pride offense that had scored 77 points in Monday night's second round win at Saint Joseph's. Despite the loss, it was a breakthrough season for the Pride.

Considered a forgotten program by many after Jay Wright bolted for Villanova in 2001, Pecora put this team back on the map. The Pride has posted 47 wins over the last two years, including 26 this season, which tied the 2000-01 team for most ever in a single season.

It also picked up the first two postseason wins in school history, with NIT victories over Nebraska and St. Joe's. The Pride was poised to win a championship, but Hunter proved to be too much to handle.

"We won 26 games this year...how many other teams in the country can say that?"Pecora said. "A lot of teams never have a season like this. It hurts, but the sun will come up tomorrow. I'm very proud of all of these guys. They put this program back on the map."