NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion men's basketball team (9-4, 5-2 C-USA) overcame a 21-point deficit to defeat Marshall (9-5, 3-4 C-USA) by an 82-81 score on Friday night at Chartway Arena. The 21-point comeback ties a school record, as the Monarchs came back from a 21-0 deficit against Western Kentucky in 2019.
With 17:14 to play in the second half, Marshall claimed its largest lead, 56-35. The Monarchs roared back, utilizing a 45-18 run to claim an 80-74 lead with 2:55 remaining in regulation.
The Thundering Herd reclaimed the lead one last time, 81-80, with 1:24 left, before Kalu Ezikpe slammed home a dunk at the 1:03 mark, giving ODU the lead back, 82-81, with 1:03 left to play. Old Dominion's defense would get three consecutive stops to seal the deal on a one-point victory in Norfolk on Friday night.
"That was a pretty good win," said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. "We obviously played well and extremely hard in the second half. We made mistakes on both ends of the floor and didn't capitalize on the things we were doing from an effort standpoint in the first half. In the second half, we kept it simple and had a lot of guys step up for us. Now, we need to turn the page and get ready for tomorrow night."
Austin Trice led the way for ODU with 20 points and a career high 13 rebounds. Also in double figures for Old Dominion were Mekhi Long (12 rebounds) and Joe Reece (eight rebounds), who each scored 16 points.
The Monarchs shot 65.7% (23-35) from the floor in the second half. For the game, ODU held a 50-28 advantage on the boards and a 50-20 advantage for points in the paint. The game experienced seven ties and four lead changes.
At the half, the Monarchs trailed by 14, 42-28, as Old Dominion was led by Trice's eight points and six rebounds, while Long and Reece each chipped in six points. ODU held a 29-18 advantage on the boards (16-5 for offensive rebounds) in the opening 20 minutes.
Old Dominion will be right back in action on Saturday, Feb. 6 against Marshall at Chartway Arena for a 7:00 p.m. Tomorrow night's game will stream on ESPN+.
Coaches vs. Cancer:
The Old Dominion men's basketball staff is proud to support Coaches vs. Cancer in their mission to help save more lives from cancer. ODU's coaching staff will again be wearing sneakers for tomorrow night's game to join the fight against cancer. To learn more, please visit: www.coachesvscancer.org.
ODU Ties School Record After Overcoming 21-Point Deficit in 82-81 Win Over Marshall
