Comeback Bid Falls Short As Men's Basketball Drops 78-71 Decision At Troy

TROY, Ala. – Senior Tyreek Scott-Grayson scored a career-high 31 points, while Ben Stanley added 14 as the Old Dominion men's basketball team fell 78-71 to Troy on Thursday night in Sun Belt Conference action.
 
"Troy came out very distruptive early on defense and made it hard for dribble handoffs. We made some good plays in the first half to keep the game in range, and in the second half when we pulled to within two.  But when the game was in balance, we couldn't get the 50-50 balls in our favor," said ODU Head Coach Jeff Jones.
 
Old Dominion (9-6, 1-2) started the game on a quick 5-0 spurt as a Stanley 3-pointer and a Dericko Williams putback gave the Monarchs a 5-0 lead at the 18:17 mark.  Scott-Grayson added a 3-pointer with 15:59 remaining for a 10-6 advantage.
 
Troy (10-6, 2-1) responded with an 11-2 run to take a 17-12 lead on a Nelson Phillips 3-pointer with 12:01 left in the half.
 
ODU made a run to take a 21-19 lead on a Mekhi Long putback with 7:18 left.  The Trojans exploded on a 19-4 run to lead 38-25 with a Darius Mcneil 3-pointer with 91 seconds remaining. The Monarchs scored the last seven points of the half, all from the foul line with Long and Scott-Grayson hitting a pair to start. 
 
Mcneil missed a 3-pointer and Stanley got the rebound out to Chaunce Jenkins who attempted a 3-pointer and was fouled.  He hit all three as the Monarchs trimmed the deficit to 38-32 at half.
 
In the second half, the lead for the Trojans grew back to 13 points as Christian Turner hit a layup for a 62-49 lead with 11:30 left.  ODU cut the lead to three on an Imo Essien layup at the 7:22 mark to trail 63-60.  Two quick Troy buckets were answered by a Scott-Grayson 3-pointer and a Stanley dunk to pull the Monarchs to 67-65 with 4:51 left.  That was as close as the Monarchs could get.
 
ODU now heads to Statesboro, Georgia to take on Georgia Southern Saturday at 3 p.m.
  
NOTES
Career-high 31 points for Scott-Grayson passing the 30-points he had against George Mason on Dec. 21.
Season high free throws made for ODU (25) surpassing the 21 against UMES on Nov. 7
Season high free throws attempted (33) surpassing the 30 against Norfolk State and Virginia Wesleyan.
Scott-Grayson going 10-for-10 from the line matches the most makes in a game without a miss this season. Mekhi Long also went 10-for-10 in the opener against UMES.
Stanley's 14 points was his most since scoring 15 against East Carolina on Nov. 26.