NORFOLK, Va. - The Old Dominion men’s basketball team (13-4, 4-1 C-USA) took down Marshall (12-6, 3-2) by an 82-76 score on Saturday at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
The Monarchs ballooned their lead to 23, 52-29, with 15:48 to play in the second half. With 35 seconds remaining in regulation, the Thundering Herd cut their deficit to two, 76-74, but would get no closer as Old Dominion ultimately held onto a six-point victory in front of 6,287 fans.
“At times we played really well tonight,” said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. “I was impressed with how we played at different stages, but we have to be more consistent. We made it a little tougher than we needed to, but Marshall is a handful and never stops attacking.”
B.J. Stith led four Monarchs in double-figures, scoring 20 points (6-6 FT), to compliment three rebounds and two assists. Trey Porter followed with 18 points to go along with a career high 13 rebounds. Ahmad Caver went for 15 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Brandan Stith recorded a double-double, finishing with 14 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks and four steals.
For the game, ODU connected on 22-31 (71.0%) free-throws, while the Thundering Herd hit 90.5% (19-21) from the charity stripe. Old Dominion held advantages for points in the paint (37-24) and rebounds (43-32). Of the total 40 minutes, the Monarchs held a lead for 35:22.
C.J. Burks paced all scorers with a game-high 24 points for Marshall.
Old Dominion led by 14, 40-26, at halftime, behind a half-high 12 points from B.J. Stith (5-7 FG, 2-3 3PT). Marshall’s 26 first half points was the fewest the Herd had score in any half this season. ODU shot 48.6% (17-35) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, while holding the Thundering Herd to 33.3% (10-30) from the floor and 16.7% (2-12) from deep. The Monarchs held advantages for points in the paint (21-12) and rebounds (24-15) in the first half.
Old Dominion will be back in action next week when the Monarchs travel to FIU on Thursday, Jan. 18 at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN3 before taking on FAU in Boca Raton at 2:00 p.m. on C-USA TV.
“We need to get our rest tomorrow and turn our focus onto the two Florida schools,” Jones concluded.