By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – Virginia Wesleyan at times made it uncomfortably close in the second half, but in the end, the Old Dominion men's basketball team was simply too big and talented for the Marlins.
After watching Wesleyan trim what had been a 20-point lead to 10 in the second half, the Monarchs didn't allow the Marlins to get any closer and claimed a 72-58 victory at Chartway Arena.
The annual game between ODU (2-1) and Wesleyan (3-1) was the final outing before the Monarchs head to Charleston, South Carolina for the most difficult four-day stretch on their schedule in the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic.
ODU meets defending ACC champion Virginia Tech Thursday at 2 p.m. in the first of three games in four days. The powerful, eight-team field also includes South Carolina, Penn State and Davidson.
Clearly, coach Jeff Jones said, the Monarchs must play much better to win in Charleston.
"I can't fault the effort," he said on the post-game radio show. "But we have to be smart. We can't do things to beat ourselves. We need five guys out there on the same page."
Tyreek Scott-Grayson, a 6-foot-5 transfer from Northeastern, led the Monarchs with 15 points and eight rebounds. Ben Stanley, the 6-7 transfer from Xavier, added 14 points off the bench.
Veteran Mekhi Long made just one of nine shots but had 12 rebounds and four assists.
Chaunce Jenkins, a transfer from Wichita State, made his first start and had 11 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.
ODU shot poorly both from the field and at the foul line in a 71-59 loss at Drexel last Friday and connected better from the field (24 of 57, 42.3 percent), but not much better from the foul line (20 of 30, 66.7 percent) on Monday.
It was the third year in a row ODU has played Wesleyan, which is located 15 minutes away just across the Norfolk border in Virginia Beach, and this was the closest game of the three.
The Monarchs didn't score in the game's first 2 ½ minutes and trailed much of the first eight minutes, but finally took the lead for good, 13-9, following a layup by Stanley and a three-point shot by Charles Smith IV.
The Monarchs extended the lead to 36-16 with 1:55 left on a layup by Dericko Williams, who finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
But then the Monarchs let off the gas and allowed the Marlins to get back into the game. Wesleyan got within 10 points, 53-43, on a layup by Eric Rowland with 6:02 left.
Wesleyan trimmed the lead to 10 points three times in the last four minutes but could get no closer.
The taller and stronger Monarchs out rebounded Wesleyan, 50-36, and outscored the Marlins in the paint, 34-26.
Next up for the Monarchs is a game against the Hokies on national TV on ESPN 2.
"It's a great opportunity for us to go in there and take on an ACC team," Scott-Grayson said.
"We're excited about the tournament. We're going to go in there and compete."
ODU Men's Basketball Team Defeats Virginia Wesleyan, 72-58
