NORFOLK, VA— Austin Ruders and Jarmar Gulley scored nine of Missouri State’s 16 overtime points to lead the Bears to a 79-67 victory over Old Dominion in the season opener for both teams at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. ODU was led by sophomore Aaron Bacote with a career high 28 points, red-shirt junior Richard Ross scored 14 points and hauled down a game high 10 rebounds, and red-shirt junior Dimitri Batten added 12 points.
MSU led 30-28 at halftime, but the Monarchs rallied, taking a 45-43 lead on Joe Ebondo’s layup with 11:40 left. The Monarchs went up four, 48-44 with 10:12 left after a three-pointer by freshman Ambrose Mosley. ODU committed only three turnovers in the second half to lead by as many as eight, 54-46 with 8:28 left and 58-50 with 7:01 remaining after an Aaron Bacote layup. During that stretch Bacote scored six points.
Down the stretch, Missouri State outscored ODU, 13-5 in the final seven minutes, tying the game with one minute left on two free throws by Marcus Marshall. In the overtime, Austin Ruder scored five and Jarmar Gulley added four to help the Bears pull away for the win.
In scoring 28 points, Bacote hit nine field goals and was four-for-eight from three-point range to go along with four assists on the night. Richard Ross hit six-of-seven shots from the field, grabbed a game high and career tying 10 rebounds and blocked three shots. Junior Joe Ebondo hauled down nine boards in his first game as a Monarch.
Missouri State also placed three in double figures, led by Gulley and Marcus Marshall with 18 points each, followed by 14 from Ruder.
MSU outrebounded the Monarchs, 52-44 with three players: Gulley, Keith Pickens and Tyler McCullough with nine rebounds each. Both teams hit seven treys, but MSU hit 12 more free throws than the Monarchs .722 (26-36).
ODU returns to action Wednesday night when they host the Bison of Howard at 7 pm in the Ted Constant Convocation Center.