Minium: ODU Men's Basketball Playing With Poise and Character In the Home Stretch

NORFOLK, Va. – Character is an overused word in the sports world. In many ways, it has become a cliché.
 
But the word certainly fits what we've seen lately from the Old Dominion men's basketball team, for what the Monarchs have accomplished in recent weeks has been remarkable.
 
First, let's set the scene.
 
ODU is not the most talented team in the Sun Belt. The Monarchs are a bit undersized and although they play rugged defense,  they don't shoot particularly well. With seven newcomers and four starters gone from the team that finished 13-19 a year ago, the Monarchs were understandably picked to finish ninth in the coaches' preseason poll.
 
In mid-January, after losing back-to-back games to Coastal Carolina and Marshall, the Monarchs were 11-9 and just 3-5 in the Sun Belt.
 
Remarkably, ODU has since won five of its last six, including four consecutive road victories. The only Sun Belt team hotter than ODU is Southern Miss, which leads the league and has won nine games in a row.
 
And it's how ODU has won that tells you this is a close-knit team that plays hard and with poise down to the last minute.
 
On Jan. 26, ODU won at South Alabama, 66-64, when Mekhi Long and Chaunce Jenkins combined to make three free throws in the last 27 seconds. The Monarchs then swept their two-game road trip as Bryce Baker made 2 of 3 free throws with 1.3 seconds left to give ODU a 60-59 win at Coastal Carolina.
 
ODU returned home and lost a close game to James Madison, 78-73, on Feb. 2, but then rallied to defeat Georgia Southern, 64-58, two nights later. Fouled repeatedly by the Eagles, ODU had to make foul shots to win, and made 26 of 28.
 
The Monarchs hit the road again and won at Georgia State, 63-60, on Feb. 9, when Imo Essien made a jump shot with seven seconds left as the shot clock expired.
 
Two nights later, playing 1,500 miles away from Norfolk at Texas State, Essien was again the hero, lofting in a running jumper that bounced twice on the rim before falling through to give ODU a 70-68 victory. It was a wonderful homecoming for Essien, a Dallas-area native playing in his home state, who was mobbed by family members at game's end.


 
What's most impressive about their hot streak is that the Monarchs have been shorthanded most of the New Year.
 
ODU was without Ben Stanley, a 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward who averages 10.4 points, for six games in January and February – he returned for the Monarchs' last two victories.
 
Essien missed four games in January after he collapsed in a game at Georgia Southern. After being thoroughly checked out by doctors, Essien was judged fit to play again.
 
Long has been ODU's best player as of late. He had five double doubles in a row heading into the game at Texas State, but tweaked a knee and did not play.

His status for Thursday's game at James Madison is undecided, but he is expected to return soon.
 
ODU only had two true point guards when preseason practice began, but soon learned that point guard Tre Brown, a transfer from Drexel, would not be eligible this season.
 
When Essien went down at Georgia Southern, Jenkins made the move to point guard, a position that he and Essien now share.
 
During a winter that has seen some monster viruses, illness has also been a factor. Jenkins, Tyreek Scott-Grayson, Faizon Fields and Essien have been sick for much of the New Year.
 
D'Angelo Stines missed the Georgia State game because he was sick. Fields was dragging at Texas State, but gutted it out and managed four points, seven rebounds and a blocked shot in 13 minutes.
 
"It wasn't pretty," head coach Jeff Jones said of ODU's last two victories. "But we hung in there and really battled through some illnesses and injuries. The guys just kept competing.


 Mekhi Long is listed as questionable for Thursday's game at JMU

"They've been able to hang together through adversity. The fact that they genuinely care about each other helps a lot.
 
"These guys really do care about each other and they just want to win."
 
Oddsmakers say the Monarchs won't win again during the regular season. The www.teamrankings.com website gives ODU an 18.1 percent chance of winning at JMU Thursday and has them as underdogs at Appalachian State on Feb. 18 and at home against Southern Miss on Feb. 22 and Marshall Feb. 24.
 
Not that any of that matters to the Monarchs. They've shown a remarkable ability to focus on their next opponent without looking ahead or without paying attention to the standings or the prognosticators.
 
ODU (16-10 overall, 8-6 Sun Belt) is fifth in the Sun Belt and one victory away from clinching a first-round bye in the Sun Belt Tournament in Pensacola, Florida. My guess is that they'll get that victory, and maybe we few more.
 
"We are brothers," Essien said when I asked why they've played so well down the stretch. "We're going to stick together no matter want.
 
"Sometimes we can have a bad shooting night, or our defense may not be on point as usual. But at the end of the day, all we have is each other.
 
"I tell people every day 'have your brother's back. Whatever that looks like, have your brothers' back.'"
 
And lately, it's been looking pretty good.
 
Contact Minium at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram