NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion University men’s basketball team (11-6, 4-1 C-USA) used its defense to put Southern Miss (5-11, 2-2 C-USA) away and claim a 54-50 victory on Thursday night at the Constant Convocation Center. ODU led for 36:17 of the possible 40 minutes. The Monarchs have now won four of their last five and six of their last eight contests.
A Michael Ramey three-pointer brought the Golden Eagles within two, 49-47, with 58 seconds remaining in regulation. Old Dominion answered with five consecutive free-throws to take a seven point lead with seven seconds left to ultimately claim the four point win on Thursday night.
“It is great to win,” said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. “For 38 minutes tonight, I thought our defense was really good; we were terrific on that end of the floor, so that is a credit to our guys for sticking together. I also thought our effort was pretty good tonight.”
B.J. Stith (8-9 FT’s) scored 12 of his game-high 14 points in the second half to go along with eight rebounds. Ahmad Caver (seven rebounds) and Zoran Talley (three rebounds and three assists) each scored 12 points. Denzell Taylor hauled down a game-high nine rebounds to compliment three assists and two points.
For the game, the Monarchs held advantages in rebounds (43-28), offensive rebounds (14-5), points in the paint (20-12) and second chance points (12-6).
Thursday night marked the 10th time ODU has held an opponent to 60 points or under and sixth time this season an opponent has scored 50 or less.
Southern Miss was held to 35.3% (18-51) shooting from the floor and 29.6% shooting from deep for the contest.
The opening 20 minutes was a game of runs, as ODU jumped out to an early 9-0 advantage, before the Golden Eagles responded with a 9-0 run of their own. Southern Miss ended the first half on a 7-0 run, but the Monarchs claimed a 25-24 lead heading into the locker rooms at halftime, behind a half-high nine points from Ahmad Caver as he went 3-4 from three-point range.
A total of 158 ODU student-athletes were recognized at halftime for being named to the Dean’s List; representing men’s basketball was Aaron Carver (engineering major).
NEXT UP FOR THE MONARCHS
On Saturday, Jan. 14 at 4:00 p.m. EST (originally scheduled for 6:00 p.m.), the Monarchs will welcome Louisiana Tech (11-6, 3-1 C-USA) to the Teed Constant Convocation Center on the American Sports Network.
LA Tech at ODU Live Stats: CLICK HERE
ALL-TIME SERIES: ODU vs. LA Tech
-Saturday afternoon will mark the fifth all-time meeting between the two schools.
-Old Dominion leads the all-time series, 3-1.
-The teams met twice last season, as ODU won both meetings, the latter in the Conference USA Tournament, 68-52.
-The Monarchs have claimed victory in each of the past three meetings.
-LA Tech won the first ever meeting during the 2013-14 season.
-The Bulldogs are 0-1 all-time against ODU in Norfolk.
Radio for Saturday
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 3:30 p.m. EST on Saturday.
Radio: ODU Sports Network - ESPN Radio 94.1 FM (Norfolk), Sports FM 100.5 (Richmond), 94.1 FM WLVA and Fox Sports 580 (Lynchburg).
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.