NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion went on a 14-0 run to take the lead in the first half, and never looked back, defeating Virginia Wesleyan 82-44 on Saturday at the Chartway Arena. Robert Davis Jr. led all Monarchs in scoring with 19 points on six three pointers.
ODU improves to 5-8 on the season with the win.
“This is one heck of a way to end 2024, we’ll take it, and get back to the drawing board after the new year,” Said ODU Head Coach Mike Jones.
ODU trailed by two, 9-7, after a layup by Jeremiah Boateng fell for the Marlins at 14:52 in the first half,but VWU never led again in the game. A set three from Sean Durugordon gave ODU back the lead, 10-9, and Jaden Johnson followed with a driving layup. Caden Diggs then found R.J. Blakney for a dunk, big man Caelum Swanton-Rodger added a bucket in the post, and a deep three by Robert Davis Jr. followed by a made shot in the paint from Blakney completed the 14-0 Monarch run and gave ODU a 21-9 lead. The run was stopped by a three-point jumper from VWU’s Elijah Gardner.
The Marlins cut the deficit to six, 22-16, before a three by Davis Jr. and a pair of layups by Swanton-Rodger and Durugordon pushed the lead back to 14 with 1:25 left in the half. The Marlins (8-3) cut the lead to twelve at halftime, 32-20.
The Monarchs got off to a fast start in the second half, going on a 19-2 run to extend the lead to 29, 56-27. Davis Jr. hit three shots from deep in less than a minute of game time and made one free throw after getting fouled for his third three of the half. A cameo by Swanton-Rodger at the 12:38 and 12:10 marks expanded the lead, 54-25 before Boateng ended another scoreless drought for the Marlins.
ODU spent the remainder of the game giving young players a chance to get some minutes. Ben Nacy and Diggs found their way onto the scoresheet. The pair of freshmen, Nacy finished the game with five points and Diggs tallied four points. At the end of the game, CJ Parker scored his first collegiate basket as well as Cooper Jones.
“First opportunity we had to get everyone in the game. There's so many of the little things that we keyed on. Holding Khai Seargent to two points, that's an incredible job, he's a really good player that is really aggressive offensively. To have someone averaging 14/15 points to hold him to two, I am proud of our guys for that,” added Jones.
Old Dominion shot 55% from the field, 43.5% from deep, and outrebounded the Marlins by a +21 margin. Davis Jr. went 6-13 from beyond the arc and finished with 19 points. Durugordon recorded his third double-double of the season with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and went a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line. Stephaun Walker and Johnson both finished the game with four assists. Swanton-Rodger went a perfect 4-4 from the field and finished with nine points.
ODU scored 32 bench points, 38 points in the paint, 17 second chance points, 13 fast break points and led the game for a total of 36:34 out of 40 minutes.
“Could have done a better job on the defensive glass, not giving up so many offensive rebounds. But once again, we got 12 offensive rebounds, we made 70% of our free throws. We shot it decently from the three point line and we didn’t hunt them. A lot of good things we’ll take out of this, we are trying to take steps,” added Jones.
The Marlins finished the game shooting 25% from the field, 17.4% from deep, and shot 57% from the free throw line. ODU forced VWU to commit six turnovers. The visitors scored 31 bench points, 20 points in the paint, and 11 second chance points.
“This was an unbelievable crowd in here today, I don’t know what the numbers were, I don't care, because everybody was loud enough for two people, so double whatever the number was, we are gonna need these guys on Thursday.” said Jones.
UP NEXT:
ODU will host Arkansas State in a Sun Belt Conference matchup at 7 p.m. on Jan. 2 before hosting Southern Miss on Jan. 4.