BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Zoran Talley’s 23 points and B.J. Stith's 22 points each marked career-highs to lead the Old Dominion men’s basketball team (10-6, 3-1 C-USA) over Western Kentucky (9-8, 3-1 C-USA) by a 79-67 score on Saturday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.
After trailing by as many as 11 with 15 minutes left in the second half, the Monarchs used a 32-9 run to take a 67-55 lead with 3:48 to play in the game, capped off by a B.J. Stith and-one.
A Que Johnson three pulled the Hilltoppers within seven, 69-62, at the 2:05 mark, before Ahmad Caver sank his fourth three of the contest to push the Monarchs’ lead back to 10 with 1:25 to play and ultimately give Old Dominion a 12-point victory in Bowling Green on Saturday night.
“I thrilled with our guys tonight,” said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. “This was a terrific, hard-fought, hang-in-there road win. Early in the game, I thought WKU had the momentum. We faced a lot of adversity tonight with different things, obviously not having Brandan [Stith], but I am tickled to death with this win. It’s always great to win on the road. For our guys to hang in there, makes me so proud of them.”
Zoran Talley shot 10-14 from the floor to earn his career high of 23 points to go along with three rebounds and three assists. B.J. Stith connected on all seven of his attempts from the charity stripe en route to his career-high of 22 points to compliment five rebounds. Also in double-figures for the Monarchs was Ahmad Caver, who went for 18 points (4-6 3PT), four assists, three rebounds and two steals. Trey Porter hauled down a career-high 13 rebounds to go along with nine points and two blocks.
For the game, ODU shot 50.9% (27-53) from the floor, 40.0% (6-15) from three-point range and 86.4% (19-22) from the free-throw line. Old Dominion’s defense held the Hilltoppers to 35.7% (20-56) field-goal shooting for the contest. For the game, the Monarchs held advantages in bench points (27-9), rebounds (42-30), points in the paint (24-12), as well as second chance points (14-8).
Saturday marked the fifth game in nine days for Old Dominion. Brandan Stith did not dress due to a sprained ankle suffered in the last play of the first half in the Thursday road game at Marshall.
Old Dominion trailed 35-31 at the half after connecting on 50% (13-26) from the floor.
Entering tonight’s contest, the last home loss Western Kentucky suffered was to ODU last season on Feb. 18, 2016, as Trey Freeman went over the 2,000 career point mark.
NEXT UP FOR THE MONARCHS
Old Dominion will return to the Ted Constant Convocation Center for a pair of Conference USA matchups. First on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 7:00 p.m., the Monarchs will welcome Southern Miss. Thursday’s contest can be seen on C-USA TV.
Then on Saturday, Jan. 14, ODU will play host to LA Tech. Originally tip-off was slated at 6:00 p.m.; however, has since changed and will begin at 4:00 p.m. Saturday’s contest will air on the American Sports Network.
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.