CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Old Dominion men’s basketball team (16-4, 7-1 C-USA) dominated Charlotte (5-14, 1-7 C-USA) by an 88-66 score at Dale F. Halton Arena on Saturday night. The Monarchs have now won four in a row and 11 of their last 12.
“We came out playing well from the opening tip,” said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. “Over the course of the game, our defense was pretty good. Brandan Stith was magnificent, he was all over the place. I thought a lot of our guys played really well tonight.”
Randy Haynes scored a team-high 24 points (one shy of his career-high), to go along with five rebounds, two steals and one assist. Trey Porter finished two points shy of his career-high in a 21 point and six rebound performance. Ahmad Caver went for 17 points, four steals, three rebounds and three assists. Brandan Stith hauled down a career-high 17 rebounds to compliment 11 points, three assists and three steals.
The Monarchs held advantages for rebounds (38-19), points in the paint (38-14), second chance points (26-3), points off turnovers (22-10), fast break points (8-0) and steals (8-2). Old Dominion shot 50.0% (31-62) from the floor, 45.0% (9-20) from three and 73.9% (17-23) from the charity stripe for the contest. The Monarchs led for 36:21 of the possible 40 minutes.
Charlotte’s Ryan Murphy scored a career and game-high 27 points on 9-11 shooting from the floor and 6-6 shooting from three.
For the two games against the 49ers this season, ODU has averaged a 26.5-point margin of victory.
In a first half that ODU led by as many as 18, the Monarchs took a six-point lead with them into the locker rooms at halftime, behind 13 points from Randy Haynes. Brandan Stith grabbed a half-high 12 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes. Old Dominion held advantages for rebounds (20-10) and second chance points (13-3).
Old Dominion will return to the hardwood on Thursday, Feb. 1, when the Monarchs welcome Middle Tennessee to the Ted Constant Convocation Center for an 8:00 p.m. tip. Thursday night’s game will air on Stadium.
“Thursday will be a big game,” Jones concluded. “Middle Tennessee is a very good team. I just want us to be ready to fight for 40 minutes.”