NORFOLK, Va. – Zoran Talley poured in a career-high 18 points, while Ahmad Caver dished out a career high nine assists to lead the Old Dominion men’s basketball team (7-4, 0-0 C-USA) over Howard (3-9, 0-0 MEAC) by a 65-46 score on Thursday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. ODU led for 39:12 of the possible 40 minutes (game was tied for 48-seconds), which marks the second consecutive game that the Monarchs have never trailed.
Old Dominion outscored the Bison 36-22 in the second half to pull away and claim the 19-point win, which marks the largest victory for the Monarchs this season.
Also in double-figures for ODU was Brandan Stith who went for 12 points (6-6 FT), 12 rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes of work. Caver also chipped in eight points and only had one turnover to go along with his nine assists. Jordan Baker also scored eight points to compliment four assists. Trey Porter scored seven points and added three rebounds, while Denzell Taylor scored five points, had six rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one steal.
“I thought our effort was good and we had plenty of energy tonight,” said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. “Howard did a nice job making sure there was not much rhythm in this game. We couldn’t get much separation until the end, but we continued to make them work for everything and grind it out. Eventually, we found their soft spot by getting the ball to the high-post and that ended up being key.”
For the game, Old Dominion held advantages for points in the paint (41-14), bench points (30-2), rebounds (38-24), offensive rebounds (18-7) and second chance points (17-8). ODU shot 80.0% (12-15) from the free-throw line for the contest.
A Trey Porter dunk gave ODU a 10-3 advantage at the first media timeout (15:11), as four different Monarchs already entered the scoring column. The Bison tied the contest at 20-20, with 3:21 left in the first half.
Old Dominion held a 29-24 lead at halftime, led by Brandan Stith’s 10 points, half-high six rebounds and half-high three assists. For the first half, ODU held advantages in points in the paint (16-6), rebounds (19-11), bench points (9-2) and second chance points (10-4).
Five straight points by Ahmad Caver stretched ODU’s advantage to 39-31 at the 15-minute mark of the second half, before claiming a 61-42 lead at the final media timeout of the contest (3:32). Both teams would score four more points the rest of the way, resulting in Old Dominion’s 65-46 victory on Thursday night in Norfolk.
Charles Williams scored a game-high 19 points to lead Howard.
NEXT UP FOR THE MONARCHS
Old Dominion will be back in action on Thursday, Dec. 29 for the non-conference finale against William & Mary at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m. The game can be seen on C-USA TV.
SINGLE-GAME TICKETS
Single-game tickets for Old Dominion University men’s basketball are on sale now at www.ynottix.com or by calling 757-683-4444. For group pricing (10+), please call Todd McKeating at 757-683-7087. All ODU students get in free all year long.
VOUCHER BOOKS
The voucher book includes 10 ticket vouchers that can be redeemed for tickets to any remaining home men’s basketball games. The tickets can be used all at once to bring a family or group of friends or spread out amongst multiple games. If you run out of vouchers, simply come back and purchase another voucher book. At just $99 per voucher book, it represents more than $70, or 40%, savings over face value.
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For a more in-depth look into the men’s basketball program, be sure to follow @ODUMBB on Twitter, ‘ODU Basketball’ on Facebook and odu_mbb on Instagram.