BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Old Dominion men’s basketball team (15-4, 6-1 C-USA) racked up 17 steals en route to defeating Florida Atlantic (9-10, 3-4 C-USA) by a 73-62 score at FAU Arena on Saturday afternoon. ODU led for 38:29 of the possible 40 minutes. The Monarchs have now won 10 of their last 11.
FAU trimmed its deficit to two (46-44) at the 12:21 mark, but the Monarchs roared back with an 12-0 run to take a 58-44 lead with 9:07 left in the second half. The Owls would get no closer than the 11-point margin at the end of the contest.
“Overall this was a terrific effort by our guys,” said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. “We played really good defense today. I don’t think I’ve ever coached a team that had 17 steals in one game.”
Ahmad Caver paced the Monarchs with 17 points (11-14 FT), seven rebounds, a career-high seven steals and four assists. B.J. Stith followed with 13 points, three assists and two boards. Randy Haynes finished with 12 points and three steals, while Brandan Stith chipped in 10 points, two rebounds, two blocks and two steals in 29 minutes of work.
For the ballgame, Old Dominion held advantages for steals (17-3), turnovers (10-21) points off turnovers (22-13) and fast break points (10-2).
ODU utilized a 7-0 run to take a 34-22 advantage with 3:35 to play in the first half, before the Owls closed the half on a 5-0 run cutting their deficit to seven, 34-27, at halftime. The Monarchs were led by Randy Haynes (10 points) and Ahmad Caver (nine points) in the opening 20 minutes.
Old Dominion will return to action next Saturday, Jan. 27 at Charlotte for a 7:00 p.m. tip on C-USA TV.
“We lost at Charlotte last season, so we need to find a way to win that game next Saturday night,” concluded Jones.