NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion men’s basketball team (14-9, 7-4 C-USA) led by seven with 2:45 to play in the game, before Florida Atlantic (8-13, 4-6 C-USA) closed the contest on a 15-4 run to claim a 65-61 win on Saturday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. The Monarchs led for 32:24 of the possible 40 minutes, while the game was tied for 5:14. Saturday marked Alumni Night for ODU, as 45 former players and staff members were honored at halftime.
With 13:21 to play in the second half, Old Dominion claimed its largest lead to that point of 15, 38-23. With three minutes left, Florida Atlantic trimmed its deficit to four, 54-50. A Brandan Stith and-one dunk extended the Monarchs advantage to seven (57-50) at the 2:45 mark, before the Owls closed the game on a 15-4 run to ultimately claim the four point victory in Norfolk.
“We got off to a sluggish start and I thought FAU was getting most of the loose balls,” said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. “FAU made some tough threes, but we didn’t help ourselves tonight. This one needs to hurt; it should hurt. Now we have some soul searching to do. We have to work this out of our system and move forward.”
Brandan Stith paced the Monarchs with 14 points to go along with three rebounds in 21 minutes of work. Ahmad Caver followed with 12 points, three rebounds and two steals. B.J. Stith (six rebounds and three assists) and Jordan Baker (two assists) each chipped in eight points, respectively. Trey Porter went for six points, a game-high 10 rebounds and three blocks.
Old Dominion held the Owls to just 19 points in the opening half, which was a season-low for Florida Atlantic. The Monarchs held a 27-19 lead at halftime, behind six points from Randy Haynes (3-4 FG) and Ahmad Caver each, respectively.
NEXT UP FOR THE MONARCHS
Old Dominion will hit the road to take on Middle Tennessee on Thursday, Feb. 9 in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Then on Saturday, Feb. 11, the Monarchs will travel to Birmingham for a showdown at UAB. Both games will air on beIN and will begin at 8:00 p.m. EST.
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.