STATESBORO, Ga. -- Ben Stanley finished with a season-high 22 points to lead four in double figures as Old Dominion held the lead throughout overtime and defeated Georgia Southern 81-75 in a Sun Belt Conference contest Saturday afternoon.
"Anybody besides me proud of these guys? A very gutty win over a Georgia Southern team that was on a roll," said ODU Head Coach Jeff Jones. "They are an outstanding offensive rebounding team and we had a 16-8 advantage on offensive boards. A lot of different guys made plays to get our first Sun Belt Conference road win and in the fashion we did makes it even more special."
Overtime started as Tyreek Scott-Grayson drained a 3-pointer at the 3:28 mark to lead 72-69. Each team traded buckets at that point as Kaden Archie hit a layup with 80 seconds left to put the ODU (10-6, 2-2) lead at 74-73.
Stanley followed with a 3-pointer from the left corner giving the Monarchs a 77-73 advantage with 48 seconds remaining. Faizon Fields and Mekhi Long each hit a pair of free throws in the final 36 seconds to ice the win.
The Monarchs trailed 34-32 at half and then 36-32 after a Carlos Curry jumper 66 seconds into the half. ODU scored the next 10 points to take its largest lead of the day at 42-36 on a Tyreek Scott-Grayson 3-point play with 16:07 on the clock.
The lead changed hands five times in the last two minutes as Faizon Fields putback his own miss to lead 68-67 with 23 seconds left and Scott-Grayson went 1-of-2 from line with eight seconds to hold a 69-67 advantage. Jalen Finch hit two free throws with two seconds remaining and a last ditch shot fell short to force overtime at 69-all.
In the first half, the hosts went on a 10-2 run to lead 17-9 after a Kaden Archie layup at the 10:49 mark. The Monarchs methodically chipped away and took a 24-23 lead on a Bryce Baker 3-ball at 6:09. Stanley scored six straight points for the Monarchs to help keep an advantage with a jumper at the 2:20 mark closing that run to give ODU a 32-29 lead. Georgia Southern (10-7, 3-1) responded with a dunk from Kamari Brown and a 3-pointer from Tai Strickland to lead 34-32 at half.
Joining Stanley in double figures was Scott-Grayson with 18 points and eight rebounds, Chaunce Jenkins with 14 points, career-high seven assists and seven rebounds, while Long had 13 points a game-high sharing nine rebounds and a season-high three blocked shots.
Old Dominion returns to Chartway Arena on Thursday night hosting Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m.
Notes
Sixth time with four players scoring in double figures – all wins
First OT win since Feb. 10, 2021 winning 78-76 at Charlotte
Stanley topped his previous season high of 20 points done twice, the last time against Davidson and Maryland Eastern Shore.
Jenkins bested his previous high in assists of five that he did twice in the Charleston Classic against Davidson and Furman.
Men's Basketball Takes Road OT Win Over Georgia Southern 81-75
BenStanley scored a season-high 22 points in the OT win over Georgia Southern