Tania Moran

In the second game of the quarterfinals in the Conference USA tournament, Middle Tennessee used some pesky defense with some good rim protection in the paint and good game management from their senior point guard Tweety Knight to beat the Old Dominion Monarchs.

Knight finished the game with 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.

The Monarchs were not able to capitalize on a lot of their shots. They shot an abysmal 27.6 percent from the field in the first half of play.

The Blue Raiders would stretch their advantage as far as 19 points in the early-goings of the second half. They never allowed the Monarchs to get within 11 points.

“We’re not a real pretty offensive team but I thought we defended at a high level,” said Middle Tennessee head coach Kermit Davis.

In the final two minutes, the Monarchs had no more to give as their head coach conceded victory and played the rest of his bench.

“I thought we rebounded the ball well and I thought Tweety (Knight) was real good in transition,” Davis said.

The leading scorer for the Blue Raiders was their senior Neiko Hunter, who tallied a 16 point game to lead both teams.

“My teammates got me some great shots. I played to my ability and played off of my teammates,” Hunter said.

The Blue Raiders outscored the Monarchs in the paint 30-16 and did not give Old Dominion many second chance opportunities to score.

Next in store for the Blue Raiders is the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes. They will meet up in semi-final game No.1 on Friday at 2 p.m.

“The team that is toughest will win the game,” Hunter said.

Luis Barrio may be reached @Luis_Barrio17