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Old Dominion is the inaugural Vegas 16 champion

Oakland put up a spirited effort in the game's final stretch but it was the Monarchs who came out on top.

By Kaleb Carter
Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

The Monarchs can feel like royalty as March comes to an end.

Old Dominion will bring a trophy back to Virginia after defeating the Oakland Grizzlies 68-67 in the Vegas 16 final.

While it's not the biggest win for a Conference USA team this season (we'll gladly bestow that honor upon the Blue Raiders of MTSU.

Trey Freeman brought an end to his college career with a W. He scored 24 points and grabbed 6 reboundss in his final collegiate contest. Aaron Bacote and Brandan Stith added 12 and 14 points specifically.

The Monarchs did the brunt of their work around the bucket, as they outrebounded the Grizzles 40-27 and relied on shots within the arc to do their damage (ODU shot just 8 3-pointers compared to Oakland's 23 attempts).

A 14-0 run from the Grizzlies, when ODU seemed firmly in control, put the two teams in a 44-44 tie with a little under 12 minutes to go in the game.

ODU reclaimed that lead and fended off Oakland the rest of the way.

Kahlil Felder went with a fight. He nailed a 3-point bucket with two seconds remaining to bring the game within one point, but it was not to send him off into the sunset with a championship. The possibility of him skipping senior year to enter the NBA draft is a possibility. Whether that happens is another story. Should he come back, he could have a shot at the NCAA assist record.

ODU finished the year 25-13 and with nice wins over Tennessee Tech and UC Santa Barbara before tonight. So there's something for the Monarch youngsters to build off of next season.

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