NORFOLK, VA—Trey Freeman’s (Virginia Beach, VA.) 30-footer as time ran out gave the Monarchs of Old Dominion (27-7) a 72-69 victory over Murray State in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals before a crowd of 8,161 in the Ted Constant Convocation Center. This will be ODU’s first trip to Madison square Garden since the 2006 NIT. ODU will play Stanford Tuesday night in a semifinal matchup at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.
ODU led by ten, 65-55 with 3:39 left after a Jonathan Arledge (Silver spring, MD.) basket. The Racers then rallied, forcing ODU into four turnovers and tying the game on a three-pointer by Jeffery Moss, setting up the Monarchs game-winner from Freeman.
After a timeout, Freeman got the inbound pass from sophomore Jordan Baker (Hampton, VA.) and went down the right sideline and after getting pass a Murray State defender launched his shot from about 30-feet which banked in for the win at the buzzer.
Freeman, who injured an ankle at practice over the weekend and played only 12 minutes in the win over Illinois State finished with 25 points along with four assists and three rebounds. Jonathan Arledge added 12 points with six rebounds and two steals, followed by Jordan Baker with 11 points. While sophomore forward Denzell Taylor (Ontario, Canada) did not score, he had five rebounds, five assists and a blocked shot.
ODU shot .528 (28-53) from the field, holding the Racers to .377(20-53). The Monarchs edged Murray State on the boards, 34-33.
Murray State was led by Cameron Payne, the Ohio Valley Conference Player finished with 23 points, while Jarvis Williams added 15 points and nine rebounds.
NOTE: ODU Head Coach Jeff Jones was the first person to win the NIT as both a player and a coach. ODU has now won 24 straight at home which ranks sventh best in the nation, and the Monarchs were a perfect 20-0 at the Ted this year.
ODU and Stanford have met only once before. The Cardinal defeated the Monarchs 84-60 in the 2001 Puerto Rico Shootout.