CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Chaunce Jenkins scored 16 of his career-high 24 points in the second half as Old Dominion made a frantic run trimming a 16-point second half deficit to two but fell to Virginia Tech 75-71 in the first day of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic on Thursday.
Old Dominion (2-2) will face Furman (2-1) on Friday at 2:30 p.m in the consolation round on Friday afternoon in a game that will be on ESPNU.
"We didn't help much in the first half as our execution was woeful and didn't get anything out of the offensive rebounds. In the second half we battled just as hard, harder maybe, but we did a better job of executing," said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. "If our guys understand we got to get better, we got to help ourselves and not beat ourselves like we did in ways in this contest. If we keep competing like we did, I will take that," he added.
Virginia Tech (4-0) took a 16-point lead twice in the second half, the last being on a Darius Maddox layup with 16:24 left for a 45-29 advantage. The Monarchs cut the lead to single digits for the first time after a 3-pointer by Charles Smith IV to trail 53-45 at the 9:15 mark.
A pair of Justyn Mutts free throws with 2:22 remaining pushed Virginia Tech's lead back to double digits at 70-60. From there, the Monarchs went on an 11-3 run with Jenkins starting it on a jumper, then feeding Tyreek Scott-Grayson for a layup as ODU trailed 70-64 with 87 seconds left.
Dericko Williams drained a pair of free throws to pull to 70-66 with 34 seconds, but Tech responded with three of four from the line for a 73-66 lead with 18 seconds left. Jenkins drained a pull-up jumper then Mekhi Long gathered in a deflection and drained a 3-pointer to bring ODU to 73-71 with six seconds left. Hunter Cattoor hit a pair of free throws with five seconds left as Virginia Tech pulled away.
Long had his second double-double of the year with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while Ben Stanley added eight points and seven boards and Scott-Grayson had eight points. Old Dominion held a 46-32 advantage on the boards, including 18-6 on the offensive end, along with a 34-28 advantage in points in the paint and 35-19 in points off the bench.
After a first-half that saw Old Dominion hit 28.6% from the field, the Monarchs shot 52.8% from the floor in the second to end at 29-of-71 (40.8%). Virginia Tech used a 14-3 run over a 5:30 span to lead 39-19 on a Maddox pull up jumper with 95 seconds left in the half. The Monarchs scored the last six points on a Faizon Fields jumper and four from Jenkins to trail 39-25 at half.
Second Half Comeback Bid Falls Short As Monarchs Drop 75-71 Decision To Virginia Tech
