NEW YORK, NY-- Trailing by as many as 21 points, top seeded ODU rallied in the second half to take a two point lead but eventually fell short in a 67-60 loss to Stanford in an NIT semifinal game at Madison Square Garden. The Monarchs finished the season at 27-8.
Ambrose Mosley led ODU with 16 points, followed by Richard Ross with 15 and Trey Freeman with 13 second half points.
Stanford jumped out to a 15-0 lead (15:48) and would eventually lead by 21, 25-4 with 11:04 left in the first half. The Cardinal hit .526 (10-19) in the first half while ODU shot .258 (8-31), but only trailed by six, 33-27 at halftime after a Richard Ross dunk.
In the second half, the Monarchs outscored Stanford 20-12 and after Jonathan Arledge's layup on an assist from Javonte Douglas ODU would take its only lead at 49-47 with 10:18 left.
Stefan Nastic tied the game and Marcus Allen scored on a fast break after an ODU turnover giving the Cardinal back the lead at 51-49 with 7:39 left in the game. Trailing by seven with 3:35 left Trey Freeman would score five straight points to put ODU to within two, 61-59 with 2:12 to go, but Chasson Randle would hit a jumper and two free throws to put the game out of reach.
ODU outrebounded Stanford, 36-35 and committed only six turnovers to Stanford's 14. ODU came up with nine steals led by Richard Ross with three and Denzell Taylor, Jordan Baker and Ambrose Mosley with two each.
Stanford was led by Chasson randle wiht 24 points, followed by Stefan Nastic with 17 and Anthony Brown with 14. Stanford will play Miami in the finals on Thursday.
Stanford finished the game shooting .487 (19-39) from the field, while the Monarchs shot .344 (21-61.