HARRISONBURG, Va. – B.J. Stith scored 13 points in a matter of two minutes late in the second half to lift the Old Dominion men’s basketball team (2-0, 0-0 C-USA) to a 69-53 victory over James Madison (1-1, 0-0 CAA) in Harrisonburg on Monday night at the JMU Convocation Center.
B.J. Stith (4-4 FT) led four Monarchs in double-figures, going for 19 points (3-4 3PT FG), to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Brandan Stith followed with 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Trey Porter scored 11 points and hauled down eight rebounds, while Ahmad Caver finished with 10 points, four assists and two steals. Randy Haynes chipped in nine points, three assists and two steals.
ODU never trailed in the second half and led for 34:16 of the 40 minutes. For the game, the Monarchs held JMU to 18-56 (32.1%) shooting form the floor and 6-25 (24.0%) shooting from three-point range. Old Dominion connected on 75.0% (15-20) of its free-throw attempts.
“It is never easy winning on the road, so we are pleased to get our first road victory of the season tonight,” said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. “We knew coming in that JMU was a very aggressive team and beat us to the punch, but to our guys’ defense, we were able to adjust and settle down and play pretty good basketball. This is a good win for us.”
Old Dominion held James Madison without a made field goal for a 5:01 span (0-8 FG), as the Monarchs extended its lead to 28-16 at the 1:43 mark of the first half before claiming a 30-23 lead at halftime.
The first half experienced four lead changes and two ties, but the Monarchs led for 14:16 of the 20 minutes, as 10 ODU players played and seven scored, led by Brandan Stith’s nine points and four rebounds. The Old Dominion defense held JMU to just 30.0% (9-30) shooting from the floor and 25.0% (4-16) from three in the first half.
The Dukes pulled within six, 37-31, at the 13:28 mark of the second half off a Matt Lewis jumper. A B.J. Stith three-pointer extended ODU’s lead to 11, 51-40, with 5:56 left in the ballgame.
After two B.J. Stith free-throws, B.J. Stith connected again from downtown to give Old Dominion a 56-42 advantage with 4:43 remaining in regulation; 21 seconds later B.J. Stith connected on his third three of the game to extend the Monarchs lead to 19, 61-42.
James Madison would get no closer than 14, as ODU ran off to a 69-53 victory on Monday night in Harrisonburg.
“Now, it’s a quick turnaround for us, as we face a very good Temple team on Thursday in the Charleston Classic, which is going to be a very competitive tournament,” said Jones.
Old Dominion will return to action on Thursday, Nov. 16 against Temple at 1:30 p.m. EST on ESPN3. Thursday afternoon’s contest will mark the first of three games for the Monarchs in the 2017 Gildan Charleston Classic. For more information on the Charleston Classic, please CLICK HERE.