BALTIMORE, Md. – In the 30th all-time meeting between between ODU and Towson and first ever for the Monarchs at SECU Arena, the Old Dominion men's basketball team (5-2, 0-0 C-USA) took down the Tigers (4-4, 0-0 CAA) by a 60-58 score on Saturday afternoon. B.J. Stith paced the Monarchs with a game-high 15 points to go along with four rebounds.
With 2:55 remaining in regulation, Towson tied the contest, 52-52, before B.J. Stith drilled a three-pointer as the shot-clock expired to give ODU a 57-54 lead with 2:10 to play. After two made TU free-throws with 30 seconds left, Ahmad Caver went to the line and connected on the second of two to extend ODU’s lead to 58-56.
B.J. Stith sealed the deal at the free-throw line for ODU with two more free-throws to give Old Dominion a 60-56 lead with 4.5 seconds remaining, before Towson made a layup as time expired. B.J. Stith is now a perfect 19-19 from the charity stripe for the season.
Brandan Stith chipped in 13 points, six rebounds and six blocked shots. Also in double-figures for ODU was Ahmad Caver, who poured in 12 points, dished out four assists and hauled down three rebounds. Denzell Taylor stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, a game-high 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block.
Old Dominion’s defense held the Tigers to 37.7% (23-61) shooting from the floor for the game and 21.4% (3-14) from deep.
The Monarchs connected on 48% shooting from the floor, 40% from three-point range and 86% from the free-throw line to claim its largest lead of the first half, 32-25. Denzell Taylor led all scorers and rebounders in the first half with seven points and nine rebounds. The Tigers scored seven points in the opening two minutes of the contest, before ODU held Towson to just 18 points in the remaining 18 minutes.
In the opening 90 seconds of the second half, the Tigers utilized a 7-0 run to tie the ballgame at 32-32. Old Dominion responded with an 18-9 run to possess a 50-41 advantage at the 10:40 mark. Towson fired back with an 11-0 run to take a 52-50 lead with six minutes to play.
The Monarchs will remain on the road and be right back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at No. 21 Rhode Island. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. EST.
Rhode Island
The nationally ranked Rams have picked up wins against Dartmouth (84-61), Marist (107-65), Brown (79-72), Cincinnati (76-71) and Belmont (82-73), while suffering loses against Duke (75-65) and Valparaiso (65-62).
Rhode Island was picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10, as E.C. Matthews and Hassan Martin were selected to the preseason all-conference team.
Radio for Tuesday
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 live pregame show will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. ODU Sports Radio Network includes ESPN Radio 94.1 FM (Norfolk), Sports FM 100.5 (Richmond), 94.1 FM WLVA and Fox Sports 580 (Lynchburg).
Looking Ahead
The Monarchs will return home to take on VCU on Dec. 10, on a night that ODU will retire Kent Bazemore’s jersey.
Single-Game & Season Tickets
Single-game and season 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.
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.