PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- The Old Dominion men's basketball team (2-1) fell to No. 10 Louisville (3-0) by a 68-62 in an OT thriller at the Battle for Atlantis on Tuesday night. Brandan Stith paced the Monarchs with 20 points on 8-11 FG shooting. Denzell Taylor hauled down a game-high 12 rebounds, while B.J. Stith chipped in eight points.
Louisville opened the game with a 7-0 run in the first four minutes of play, but Old Dominion responded with a 4-0 run of their own, holding the Cardinals scoreless for over six minutes.
The Monarchs clawed their way back into the game, as a Brandan Stith layup with three minutes remaining in the half tied the game at 17-17. B.J. Stith then hit a pair of free threws at the two-minute mark to give ODU its first lead of the game at 21-19.
The teams entered the half deadlocked at 24-24, as ODU held the Cardinals to 24.1 percent shooting in the opening half. Brandan Stith powered the Monarch offense in the first half with 11 points and six boards.
ODU regained the lead early in the second half, as a Jordan Baker triple gave ODU a five-point lead at 32-27 with 15:03 remaining.
The Monarchs maintained their lead until under six minutes remaining, when a quick 5-0 burst from the Cardinals tied the game at 40-40.
Louisville entered game outrebound opponents by over 14 boards per game, while averaging over 85 points per game. With the loss, the Monarchs will play LSU tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 24 against LSU at 9:30 p.m. on AXS TV.
The game will also air live on the ODU Sports Radio Network, which includes ESPN Radio 94.1 FM (Norfolk), Sports FM 100.5 (Richmond), 94.1 FM WLVA and Fox Sports 580 (Lynchburg). Old Dominion Senior Associate Athletic Director Ted Alexander will take care of the play-by-play duties, while ODU Hall of Famer and former NBA champion Dave Twardzik will handle color commentary. Ted and Dave’s pregame shows will begin at 9:00 p.m.