CONWAY, S.C. -- Freshman Bryce Baker went two-for-three from the line with 1.3 seconds left and Old Dominion forced a last second Coastal Carolina shot wide as the Monarchs took a 60-59 victory over the Chanticleers on Saturday afternoon in Sun Belt Conference men's basketball action.
An eight-point halftime lead grew to 38-28 early in the second half as Mekhi Long had a layup and Baker hit one of two from the line at the 18:19 mark. Coastal Carolina (10-12, 4-6) ripped off a 20-3 run over the ensuing eight and a half minutes to garner a 48-41 lead after a Kevion Blackmon jumper with 9:47 left.
The Chanticleers kept the Monarchs at arms length for the next five minutes as the lead was 57-51 after an Essam Mostafa free throw with 4:41 remaining. ODU (13-9, 5-5) answered with a quick 7-0 spurt as Baker drained a 3-pointer, Long with a putback layup and D'Angelo Stines with a jumper to lead 58-57 at the 2:15 mark.
Coastal Carolina used a free throw from Antonio Daye with 37 seconds and one from Mostafa with 15 seconds left to regain the lead 59-58. ODU brought the ball down and found Baker in the corner and was fouled on a 3-point attempt by Uduje with 1.3 seconds left. He made the first, missed the second, then drained the third to give the Monarchs the lead.
"It was a little nerve wracking; I have never been in that situation before. My teammates believed in me and I had my mom and godmother here so I felt good," said Baker.
Long was proud of the effort from the freshman. "It's great to see with Bryce knocking those free throws, he had the confidence and did it."
"We went through that one stretch in the second half and couldn't get it going. Everyone was trying but we weren't trying the right way. The comeback got going as we really competed on the defensive end. All in all it was an effort game, it wasn't pretty, with two teams playing really hard against one another," said ODU head coach Jeff Jones.
Old Dominion held a lead for the majority of the first half, but saw the hosts take a 28-27 lead with 3:32 left on a Josh Uduje 3-pointer. The Monarchs clamped down on defense and closed the half on an 8-0 run to take a 35-27 lead into the locker room after an Imo Essien layup with 57 seconds on the clock.
Long had his sixth double-double of the season, second this weekend, with 19 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. Baker added nine points for the Monarchs who out-rebounded Coastal Carolina 49-43. Uduje paced Coastal Carolina with 18 points and nine rebounds.
ODU returns home for a pair of games starting on Thursday night with James Madison at 7 p.m, then Georgia Southern on Saturday night also at 7 p.m.
NOTES
The 19 rebounds for Long ties the most in a game in the Sun Belt Conference this year.
His 19 rebounds were the most in a game for ODU since Austin Trice had 20 last year against UTEP on Jan. 15, 2022.
Baker had a season highs of nine points and seven rebounds in his first collegiate start
In the first meeting in Norfolk, the Chanticleers got a three-shot foul with 1.4 seconds left for the win. Today, ODU got one with 1.3 seconds.
Men's Basketball Pulls Out 60-59 Win At Coastal Carolina
