CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Tyreek Scott-Grayson scored 18 of his game-high 26 points in the second half as Old Dominion withstood a flurry from Furman to take an 82-77 win in the second day of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic at TD Arena on Friday.
"We had everything going well, but the big difference in the type of shots we got today was we had ball and player movement. Too often this year, including the first half yesterday, it was a little too much individual and not enough making people chase you," said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. "If we make them move around, it opens opportunities for Chaunce (Jenkins) and Tyreek to attack the lane which helped."
With the win, Old Dominion (3-1) advances to face either South Carolina or Davidson on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. in a game for fifth place that will be shown on ESPNEWS.
Old Dominion held a six-point advantage midway through the first half as Scott-Grayson went one-of-two from the foul line with 10:31 left to lead 16-10. Furman (2-2) responded to even the game at 16 on a three-point play just 90 seconds later. ODU answered with a 3-pointer from Ben Stanley at the 8:48 mark to regain the lead, which it never relinquished.
The Monarchs used a quick 7-0 run over a two-minute span to take a 30-23 lead on an Imo Essien 3-pointer with 3:48 left. That advantage grew to eight on a Scott-Grayson step back 3-pointer with 2:20 remaining for a 33-25 lead.
In the second half, the Monarchs came out blistering going 9-of-11 in the first eight minutes and took a 67-47 lead on a pair of Essien free throws with 8:41 remaining. The Paladins answered with a run of their own ripping off 15 of the next 17 points to trim the lead to 69-62 on a Marcus Foster jumper with 5:15 left.
JP Pegues pulled the Paladins to 81-77 on an off-balanced 3-pointer with 10 seconds left, but Chaunce Jenkins hit a free throw for the final margin.
Essien scored nine of his 13 points in the first half, while Stanley also added 13 points. Mekhi rounded out the four in double figures for ODU with 11 points and game-high eight rebounds.
The Monarchs hit a blistering 31-of-48 from the floor for the game (64.6%), which was boosted by a 17-of-24 from the field in the second half (70.8%). ODU outrebounded Furman 36-22 and hit a season high seven 3-pointers.
NOTES
- Furman entered the game ranked third in the Mid-Major Madness Top 25, which ranks teams outside of the Power Five conferences.
- Season-high 26 points for Scott-Grayson and four off his career-high of 30 set at UAB against Rice. Was also a season-high of six assists for Scott-Grayson topping previous high of five in the opener with UMES.
- Essien raced past his career best with his 13-point outing. His previous high was eight against Drexel last week in Philadelphia. He also had career-high six rebounds which bettered his previous mark of four against UMES.
- First time this year the Monarchs were under double digits in offensive rebounds.