ODU Men's Basketball Team Holds Off Louisiana, 70-66, to Claim First Sun Belt Victory

By Harry Minium
 
NORFOLK, Va. – Being accused by head coach Jeff Jones of being soft should have stung the Old Dominion men's basketball team.
 
And it did. 
 
Two nights after Jones questioned his players' toughness following a lackluster loss to Arkansas State, the Monarchs hit the floor at Chartway Arena Saturday afternoon with far more gusto and held off Louisiana, 70-66.
 
It was ODU's first Sun Belt Conference victory in 32 seasons – the Monarchs rejoined the league in July after leaving in 1991 – and came against the consensus preseason favorite to win the league title. ODU was picked to finish ninth in the 14-team Sun Belt.
 
ODU (9-5 overall, 1-1 Sun Belt) has won five of its last six. Louisiana (10-4, 0-2) has lost three in a row.
 
Playing before a vocal crowd of 5,094 on a rare, New Year's Eve matinee game, the Monarchs led by 14 at the half and 22 early in the second half, only to watch the Ragin' Cajuns narrow the lead to two points with 2:04 to go. 
 
Tyreek Scott-Grayson led ODU with 17 points, including five critical points that allowed the Monarchs to hold off the late Louisiana rally.
 
After Terence Lewis II made a layup to cut the ODU lead to 60-58, the Monarchs looked both to milk the clock and for a quality shot. But pressured by Louisiana's defense, there were no quality shots for the taking.
 
Instead, with the shot clock about to sound and a defender in his face, Scott-Grayson put up an awkward, one-footed three point shot that nonetheless swished through the net.
 
After Louisiana's Joe Charles missed a three-pointer, Mekhi Long (eight points, nine rebounds, two steals) ripped down the rebound and passed to a streaking Scott-Grayson, who then made an ESPN SportsCenter worthy shot.
 
The pass was long, so Scott-Grayson dove for the ball, and just before he hit the floor, flipped it up and into the net. He made a similar, though less difficult shot, two nights earlier.
 
"I left that shot up to God," Scott-Grayson said with a smile.
 
He was sliding on the court as the shot went in. "I didn't see it go in, but could tell from the crowd that it did," he said.
 
Meanwhile, Jones was jawing with an official and did not see it go in.
 
"Mekhi was hip-checked and I was remarking to the official that the Washington Capitals would have been very, very proud of that hip check," he said. 
 
"Everybody tells me that Tyreek made quite the circus catch and layup. I'll have to see it on video."
 
The second basket gave ODU a 65-58 lead with 52 seconds left that proved to be just enough for the Monarchs to hold on. 
 
Louisiana almost clawed its way back into the game thanks to poor free-throw shooting – the Monarchs made five of 10 in the final 49 seconds.
 
Louisiana's Kentrell Garnett made a three-pointer with 18 seconds left that cut the lead to three, 69-66. 
 
But Long then turned it back into a two-possession game by making a free throw and the Ragin' Cajuns missed two three-pointers in the final seconds.
 
ODU got 34 points off the bench, compared to 13 for Louisiana, including 11 points from D'Angelo Stines, who made three of four three-pointers. He also had two three pointers against Arkansas State that nearly allowed ODU to complete a rally against the Red Wolves.
 
Stines said Jones got his players' attention when he called them soft.
 
"I think we definitely responded," he said. "We didn't like that at all. 
 
"I think we're far from soft actually. But him saying that was motivation."

Chaunce Jenkins had 12 points off the bench, and played with poise down a stretch midway through the second half in which the Monarchs held off another Louisiana surge.
 
After Louisiana narrowed the lead to four, 50-46, Jenkins made a driving layup, then picked off a pass and made a breakaway layup. Stines added two more free throws to make it 56-46.
 
The Monarchs had one of their finest first-half performances of the season, making seven of 11 three-pointers to take a 38-24 lead. Jenkins had eight points in the first half. The Monarchs ended the first half with an 8-0 run and began the second half with an 8-0 run as well.
 
Preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year Jordan Brown had 16 points and 11 rebounds, but struggled at times thanks in part to the physical defense played by Faizon Fields and others. Fields made five of six shots, scoring a season-high 11 points and had six rebounds. 
 
Jones said he was pleased with how his players responded to his criticism.
 
"Great effort by our guys tonight," he said. "We played hard. We played physical. At times I would even describe us at relentless getting after the ball. Obviously. we needed every little bit to win. 
 
"I'm guessing from the way we played tonight they didn't particularly like my description of them being soft. I'm proud of how they responded."