By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – Like the rest of his Old Dominion men's basketball teammates, point guard Imo Essien couldn't seem to throw the ball in the ocean Saturday evening. He missed his first nine shots on a night when the Monarchs made just 15.6 percent of their second-half shots.
But with 41 seconds left, and the game on the line, the 5-foot-11 sophomore guard from Wylie, Texas calmly swished a three-pointer that lifted ODU to a 44-43 victory over Gardner-Webb at Chartway Arena.
The scoring ended with Essien's shot, but not the drama.
With 27 seconds left, ODU's Faizon Fields was called for a blocking foul on Gardner-Webb's DQ Nicholas, who would have had two foul shots had the call stood. But officials reviewed the play and overturned the call into a charge on Nicholas, giving ODU the ball.
The Monarchs then turned the ball over with 22 seconds left.
Three seconds later, Anthony Selden was called for charging, with Fields again giving up his body, turning the ball back to ODU.
The Bulldogs then fouled ODU's Chaunce Jenkins, who uncharacteristically missed both foul shots.
Selden then missed a jump shot, which was rebounded by Jenkins, who as he fell to the floor was called for a travel with three seconds left.
Selden then missed a three-point shot at the buzzer, allowing the crowd of 4,741 and ODU's coaches and players to breathe a sigh of relief.
"We'll take it," coach head coach Jeff Jones said. "To say it wasn't pretty might be the biggest understatement of the year.
"But we hung in there. I'm not sure how we won but we'll take it."
Essien said he was confident he would make the shot even though he hadn't scratched on his nine earlier tries.
"Coach Jones tells us that you can't mope about the past, you've got to make the next play," Essien said. "I heard him from the bench saying, 'shoot it, shoot it.' So, I kind of let it fly.
"I shot it with confidence. You can't ever lack for confidence."
The victory extended ODU's winning streak to three and its home record to 6-0. The Monarchs (7-4) and have won four of their last five games.
Jones said the Monarchs appeared a little listless when they showed up for Saturday's shoot-around.
"I told them I hope I'm wrong, but I sensed that we were flat," he said. "The emotion just wasn't there, and we played like that."
He said his players realized that he was right during the game.
"But it's hard to flip that switch," he said. "We've got good guys on this team and everybody tried so hard. But we had guys doing things out of character, taking shots they don't usually take.
"We had only 14 turnovers, but we had at least 10 shots that qualified as turnovers. Our guys were pressing. They were trying too hard."
Gardner-Webb is now 2-7, but the Bulldogs' record is deceptive. Most of their losses have been narrow, including a 66-60 defeat at then No. 1 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The Bulldogs defense, anchored by 6-9 center Kareem Reid (12 points, 10 rebounds), clogged the lane and often took the Monarchs out of their rhythm.
ODU led nearly all of the first half, at one point was up by six, before Reid dunked the Bulldogs to a 26-25 lead with 2:12 left in the half.
Fields made a layup after a double-pump move inside to allow ODU to retake the lead and Ben Stanley made a layup to give the Monarchs a 29-26 halftime lead.
Neither team could find its shooting eye in the second half. ODU made just five of 32 shots and Gardner-Webb six of 29.
ODU was outscored, 17-15, in the second half.
Mekhi Long led ODU with 12 points. No other Monarch was in double figures.
Essien had five of ODU's eight assists and played nearly 38 minutes.
ODU was outrebounded, 51-41, and shot poorly from the free-throw line, making just nine of 22 shots.
ODU led most of the way until Selden made a three-point shot with 5:06 left in the game that knotted the lead at 41-all, then two free throws two minutes later that gave the Bulldogs a 43-41 lead.
ODU, meanwhile, missed eight shots in a row until Essien's game-winner.
"We can't just show up against anyone and especially against a team that plays as hard and is as physically tough as Gardner-Webb," Jones said. "They don't give you an inch."
ODU is in final exams next week and doesn't play again until Wednesday, Dec. 21, against George Mason at 4 p.m.
That will be the final non-conference game of the season for the Monarchs, who host their first Sun Belt Conference game on Thursday, Dec. 29, against Arkansas State at 7 p.m. and then Saturday, Jan. 31 against Louisiana at 2 p.m.
ODU Men's Basketball Team Holds Off Gardner-Webb, 44-43
