Late Run Falls Short As Men's Basketball Drops 67-63 Decision At Marshall

HUNTINGDON, W. Va. -- Taevion Kinsey hit two free throws with 1.8 seconds left as Marshall defeated Old Dominion 67-63 on Thursday night in Conference USA men's basketball action.
 
Old Dominion (10-16, 5-8) held a lead for most of the first half jumping out to a 17-11 lead after a dunk by Kalu Ezikpe at the 10:35 mark.  That advantage was trimmed to 21-20 on a Marko Sarenac 3-pointer with 5:31 left. 
 
Sarenac's 3-pointer started a personal run as he scored 13 of the final 15 points of the half for Marshall.  His free throws with 95 seconds left put the hosts up 32-25.  The Monarchs closed the half on a flurry with Charles Smith IV draining a jumper at the 1:15 mark and C.J. Keyser hit a running floater at the halftime horn as ODU trailed 32-29.
 
"I told the guys to keep battling and not to let one mistake lead into two and then three which could push Marshall on one of those runs," said ODU Head Coach Jeff Jones.  "For the most part we did that well tonight, but they hit a couple big shots and kept us off."
 
Three seemed to be the magical number in the second half as the Monarchs got as close as three points on seven occasions in the first nine minutes.  Three-point plays by Mekhi Long and Austin Trice helped put the Monarchs down 48-45 with 11:26 left. 
 
Trice followed with a layup to trim the deficit to 48-47 and then Long had a steal and drained a 3-pointer for ODU's first lead of the second half at 50-48 with 10:29 remaining.  Marshall responded with the next five points to lead 53-50 following a Goran Miladinovic dunk with 8:09 left.
 
The Monarchs had a couple chances late as Keyser drilled a 3-pointer with five seconds left to trail 65-63. But that turned into the final points as Kinsey hit his free throws to ice the win.
 
Keyser was the leading scorer for ODU with 21 points, while Trice recorded another double-double with 14 points and 19 rebounds.  Long joined them in double figures with 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
 
ODU now heads to Western Kentucky for a Saturday night matchup with the Hilltoppers at 7 p.m.