ODU Men's Basketball Gets Off To A Fast Start But Drops an 82-52 Loss to Boston College

GEORGE TOWN, Grand Caymon Islands – The Old Dominion men’s basketball team kept it close early on, but Boston College took control midway through the first half and defeated the Monarchs, 82-52, Sunday night in the first round of the Grand Caymans Classic.

The Monarchs (2-4), who saw their two-game winning streak end, take on High Point Monday night at 5 in a second-round game. High Point (5-1), a member of the Big South Conference, fell to Missouri State, 71-61.

“We’ve got to get right back at it,” said Mike Jones, ODU’s head coach. “High Point is one of the best mid-major programs in the country. They took one on the chin tonight, so I know they won’t be coming in here very happy tomorrow.

"We knew coming into this tournament that we would play three games in three days and we've got to put this one away quickly and focus on High Point.”

ODU got off to a good start, as Caelum Swanton-Rodger and Robert Davis Jr. both made layups to give the Monarchs a 4-0 lead. Davis then made a three-point shot nearly five minutes into the game to give the Monarchs a 9-7 lead.

But Chas Kelly II gave BC (4-1) its first lead, 10-9, on a fallaway jumper and the Eagles quickly turned that into a double-digit margin.

Freddy Payne made a short jumper with 36 seconds left in the first half to lift the Eagles to a 43-24 lead they took into the half.

Davis, a transfer from UMass, led ODU with 19 points. No one else was in double figures for the Monarchs.

Jones was less than pleased with his team’s play, especially his bench.

“If you look at the beginning of the game, and again, it’s a small sample size, but I felt like we executed as best we could,” Jones said. “We kept them off the glass. We were in the game.

“And somewhere along the line, we lost it. They got us on the boards. We were playing against a team, that’s literally what they do. They’re one of the best in the country” at rebounding.

“We just didn’t get it done.”

Donald Hand Jr., a 6-foot-5 guard from Landstown High School in Virginia Beach, led the Eagles with 12 points.

ODU was outrebounded 46-34, including a 30-21 edge on defensive rebounds. The Monarchs shot poorly from the field (20 of 52, 35.1 percent) and free throw line (8 of 19, 42.1 percent) and BC had 18 assists to ODU’s nine.

“It came down to a game of toughness and rebounding,” Davis said. “And defensive rebounds just killed us.

“We’re a young but old team but we’re new together,” he added. “We knew there would be trials and tribulations.

“This was one game. We can’t let it get us down.”