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Neiko Hunter scored 13 points, and Tweety Knight and Kerry Hammonds II had 11 apiece as the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders advanced past the Old Dominion Monarchs in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament.
MTSU jumped out to an 11-2 lead early, on a run sparked by Hunter, and the Blue Raiders never looked back from there. At the eight minute mark, they still led by nine, but they would extend that all the way out to 15 at 30-15 with 1:17 remaining in the half.
Old Dominion would pick up a pair of buckets late, but would still face a double digit deficit at 30-19 as they headed into the locker rooms.
The Monarchs would scrap to stay within striking distance, but would find themselves facing a 16 point hill with 14 minutes to play. They would be able to get it back to 10 with still about 10 minutes to play, but would eventually trail by as many as 17, and fell 62-48.
The win advances the 3 seeded Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders into the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament. Awaiting them is the 2 seed, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. That game will take place at 2:00 p.m. MT on Friday.
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