By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion will be seeded sixth in next week's Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament, but the Monarchs proved in the final week of the regular season that they are good enough to beat anyone in the 14-team league.
Sophomore guard Chaunce Jenkins poured in 23 points, and the Monarchs rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit, to knock off Marshall, 71-67, Friday night before a raucous Chartway Arena crowd of 6,425.
ODU will play Thursday at 6 p.m. against either Georgia State or Texas State in the second round of the Sun Belt Tournament in Pensacola, Florida. Texas State, the No. 11 seed, and No. 14 Georgia State meet Tuesday night at 7:30 in a first-round game.
ODU (19-11 overall, 11-7 Sun Belt) would have to win four games in five nights to win the Sun Belt title and the accompanying bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The win over Marshall was the second time in three nights that ODU upset a team with at least a share of the Sun Belt lead.
ODU upended Southern Miss, then in sole control of the Sun Belt lead, on Wednesday night, a loss that dropped the Golden Eagles into a two-way tie for first with Marshall (24-7, 13-5).
On Friday the Monarchs knocked the Herd out of first place and handed the regular-season title to Southern Miss. A victory over ODU would have given Marshall the regular-season crown and the accompanying automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament.
The victory was head coach Jeff Jones' 200th at ODU and the 557th of his career. Asked what winning No. 200 meant, Jones said: "It means if we win next Thursday that would be 201."
P.J. Gill, Tre Brown, Tyreek Scott-Grayson and Ben Stanley were honored on Senior Night.
The victory climaxed a remarkable late season run for ODU. The Monarchs looked to be almost dead in the water nearly six weeks ago following a 73-65 loss at Marshall. It was ODU's third loss in its last four games and dropped the Monarchs to 3-5 in the Sun Belt.
But then the Monarchs went on a roll and closed out the regular season by winning nine of their last 12 games at a time when injuries and illness left them shorthanded.
Imo Essien, who missed the win over Southern Miss with a concussion, returned to the lineup and played a key role. Jenkins drew his fourth personal foul with 8:11 left and ODU nursing a four-point lead.
Essien took over at point guard and deftly handled the Marshall press. Essien finished with eight points and three assists.
"Imo stepped up and did not shrink from the moment," Jones said.
ODU was outstanding throughout against Southern Miss, but against Marshall, had not played particularly well when Jones called a timeout early in the second half.Imo Essien (3) seals the deal with crucial free throws in tonight's men's Sun Belt basketball matchup between the Marshall Thundering Herd @ Old Dominion Monarchs at Chartway Arena in Norfolk,Virginia. The Monarchs upset the Herd 71-67 on Senior Night, making their regular season record 19-11, 11-7. The Monarchs will be the #6 seed heading into the Sun Belt Conference tourney in Pensacola, FL." height="366" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/odu-prod/2024/04/30/0jruTLhHqfpQY9R0uF5qfFOw9Iyi0CuLRaNbo4UX.jpg" width="650" />
Imo Essien seals ODU's victory on a free throw with seven seconds left.
Jones recalls telling his players that regardless of what happened the rest of the game, "the sun's going to come up tomorrow and I'm still going to love you and be proud of you.
"Let's just go out and play. Let's not worry about things. Let's just play. And fortunately for us we had a bunch of guys who did exactly that."
ODU trailed by nine early in the second half and by seven, 45-38, with 14 minutes to go.
Shortly after Jones' pep talk, Charles Smith IV made a jump shot and Essien a three-pointer and the lead was down to two. Then, with 13:08 left, Faizon Fields grabbed a rebound of his own missed shot and laid it in to give ODU a 48-47 lead the Monarchs never surrendered.
Marshall went cold in the second half, including a seven-minute stretch in which the Herd did not score a field goal. ODU took advantage to take a six-point lead, 65-59 on a layup by Tyreek Scott-Grayson with 2:46 left. 
Faizon Fields had seven points, five rebounds and two steals
Mekhi Long then dunked ODU into a seven-point lead, 68-61, with 1:52 left.
Marshall then rallied from the charity stripe, making six foul shots in less than a minute to cut the lead to 68-67 with 33 seconds left.
Jenkins was fouled with 24.7 seconds left and made both shots to build the lead to three, 70-67.
Essien then picked off a poorly-throw pass from Andrew Taylor and was fouled with seven seconds left. He made 1 of 2, which sealed the victory.
By then, the crowd was standing and chanting "ODU, ODU," and after Taylor's three-point shot missed at the buzzer, the Monarchs celebrated at mid court.
ODU had eight newcomers this season and lost four starters from last season. Jenkins said it took a while for the team to develop the right chemistry and that while they were going through growing pains, the Monarchs stuck together.
Dericko Williams had six points and seven rebounds.
"We never stopped believing in ourselves even after all of the tough losses we had," said Jenkins, who had four assists and six rebounds and was 3 of 4 on three-point shots.
"The losses brought us together, made us closer."
Wednesday was Senior Night and forward Ben Stanley, whose season was ended by a knee injury two weeks ago, and Tre Brown, a transfer who was unable to play because of NCAA eligibility issues, were among those honored before the game.
Scott-Grayson, who scored 13 points and has been ODU's leading scorer most of the season, and walk-on co-captain P.J. Gill were also honored.
It was Stanley who drew the loudest ovation.
"His positive energy has had such a positive effect on us," Jenkins said. "Whether he's on the court or not, Ben's been a huge part of our team and will continue to be a huge part of our team."
ODU Men's Basketball Team Upsets Marshall, 71-67, to End Regular Season on a Roll
