NORFOLK, Va. – In the 31st all-time meeting which consisted of 16 lead changes and 14 ties, five Monarchs scored in double figures to lead the Old Dominion men’s basketball team (17-5, 8-2 C-USA) over UAB (15-9, 6-5 C-USA) by a 65-60 score at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on Saturday night. ODU has won five of its last six and 12 of its last 14.
A B.J. Stith three, followed by five straight points from Ahmad Caver and then a B.J. Stith put-back dunk put ODU on a 10-0 run to take a 49-47 lead with 6:37 to play. After trading baskets over the next couple of minutes, with 1:58 left the score was tied at 58-58, before ODU went on a 5-0 run capped off by a Brandan Stith steal and dunk to claim a 63-58 advantage with 15 seconds remaining, before ultimately securing a 65-60 victory in front of 6,481 fans.
Randy Haynes led the Monarchs with 16 points to go along with three rebounds and two steals. B.J. Stith (four rebounds), Ahmad Caver (seven assists, one turnover and three rebounds) and Xavier Green each scored 11 points, respectively. Trey Porter narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds.
“This was a heck of a hard-fought win,” said a pleased Jeff Jones. “Both teams had their moments and made their runs. I’m just glad our guys made plays in crunch time. I think our team made a step forward tonight and we did it against a good team.”
UAB led for a total of 18:51, ODU held a lead for 13:03, while the score was tied for 8:06. For the contest, ODU connected on 71.4% (10-14) from the charity stripe. For the second half, the Monarchs shot 50.0% (6-12) from deep, while the Blazers shot 52.2% (12-23) from the floor.
UAB was led by Chris Cokley’s 16 points and eight boards.
In a first half that experienced 10 ties and eight lead changes, the Monarchs took a one-point lead (30-29) with them into the locker rooms at halftime, behind a half-high 11 points from Xavier Green. ODU’s bench outscored the Blazers 11-3 in the opening half.
“We can’t worry about what anyone else in the league is doing, we just have to handle our business,” Jones concluded. “We must keep moving forward and build on tonight’s win.”
Old Dominion will be back in action on Thursday, Feb. 8, when the Monarchs travel to Hattiesburg to take on Southern Miss at 8:00 p.m. on C-USA TV.