HUNTINGTON, W. Va. -- Closing the game on a 20-5 run, the Old Dominion men's basketball team pulled off a road win at Marshall on Thursday night with an 83-76 victory at the Cam Henderson Center.
The win for ODU (6-16, 2-8) was the first true road victory of the season and the first win at Marshall since Feb. 22, 2018, when ODU took an 84-79 win.
"So happy for the guys they played so hard tonight," said ODU Interim Head Coach Kieran Donohue. "With Leeroy, he's a factor, his length is a factor. He goes after balls and chases rebounds. To get eight rebounds in 19 minutes, he gave us a different look, gave us energy. Ceaser just comes in and attacks and did a lot of good stuff. He got to the line and made big free throws.
Kevon Voyles hit a pair of free throws at the 5:55 mark to put Marshall (11-12, 6-4) up 71-63, but Bryce Baker responded with a 3-pointer off a feed from Jason Wade to start the run for a 71-66 margin 19 seconds later.
Tyrone Williams converted a coast-to-coast layup with 4:37 left trimming the lead to 71-68 and followed with a steal and layup bringing the Monarchs to 71-70 with 3:57 on the clock.
A jumper by Nate Martin put Marshall back up three at 73-70 with 2:51 left, but Baker evened the contest with another 3-ball at the 2:39 mark for a 73-all contest. Chaunce Jenkins went 1-of-2 from the line with 93 seconds left to give ODU a 74-73 lead.
He then made the biggest pass of the night as he drove the lane with two players on him and kicked out to Baker who drained his fourth triple of the game for a 77-73 count with 44 seconds on the clock.
"Chaunce was terrific tonight and made a great play with the game winding down," said Donohue. "He didn't force a shot, knew he was getting a lot of attention and kicked it out to Bryce who hit the big 3-pointer."
Devin Ceaser pushed the lead to 79-73 with a pair of free throws seven seconds later, before Martin went 1-of-2 from the line with 27 seconds on the clock making the lead 79-74.
Williams converted a pair of free throws with 25 seconds as the advantage grew to 81-74. Kamdyn Curfman finished the scoring for Marshall with a jumper with 18 seconds left, then Ceaser scored the final bucket of the night for the Monarchs.
Marshall was 2-for-6 from the field and 1-for-6 at the line with three turnovers in the final six minutes.
ODU got off to a solid start leading 19-16 as Baker hit his first of four 3-pointers with 12:19 on the clock. That margin grew to 11 points on an R.J. Blakney dunk with 3:11 left off a feed from Ceaser for a 37-26 advantage. Marshall worked its way back into the game and trailed 41-36 after a layup from Obinna Anochili-Killen with 82 seconds before halftime.
To start the second half, Jenkins went 1-of-2 from the line, buried a 3-ball and Imo Essien had a layup as ODU held a 47-38 lead with 18:17 on the clock. Marshall went on a 21-6 burst to take a 59-53 lead on a jumper by Anochili-Killen at the 10:45 mark.
That lead stayed in the 6-to-8-point range with Voyles' free throw at 5:55 starting the final burst for the Monarchs.
Ceaser had 20 points to lead four in double figures for the Monarchs. Jenkins added 17 points, while Williams had 15 and Baker hit for a dozen.
Voyles was the leading scorer in the game with 23 points, while Anochili-Killen had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Martin had a triple-double with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for Marshall.
ODU hit 29-of-59 from the floor (49.2%) and 8-of-21 from 3-point land (38.1%). From the line they were 17-of-24 (70.8%) and in the second half was 10-of-14 (71.4%). The Monarchs were outrebounded 39-38 as Leeroy Odiahi, in his first start of the year, matched his season high with eight boards and Williams had seven. ODU had 13 assists on 29 buckets with Essien leading with four, while the Monarchs had seven steals and Ceaser was leader with three.
Marshall was 28-of-66 from the floor (42.4%) and 11-of-37 from 3-point range (29.7%). At the foul line they were 9-of-15 (60%) and had 25 assists on 28 made field goals. They had 10 steals with Martin leading after his three swipes.
The Monarchs now head to Harrisonburg for a third matchup against James Madison on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Closing Burst Leads Men's Basketball Over Marshall 83-76
Devin Ceaser had a team-high 20 points at Marshall