MOBILE, Ala. - Old Dominion men’s basketball outscored South Alabama 8-0 in overtime, as Sean Durugordon and Robert Davis Jr. combined to score 52 points and to lead the Monarchs to a 71-63 win Saturday evening in Mobile.
The win brings ODU to 8-9 overall and 4-1 in the Sun Belt and South Alabama to 12-5 overall and 4-1 in the Sun Belt. ODU is now tied with South Alabama atop the Sun Belt after the first two weekends of league play.
Sean Durugordon had a career night, leading ODU in scoring with 27 points on 61% shooting while also grabbing a career high 18 rebounds. Eight of the 18 rebounds were on the offensive end, one shy of his career high nine. Davis matched his career high with eight three-pointers and scored 25 along and pulled down three rebounds. Jaden Johnson had eight assists tonight, the freshman from Walker Mill, Maryland also finished with zero turnovers for the first time in his career. Dani Pounds played 36 minutes off the bench and finished with seven points and 10 rebounds.
USA began the game with a deep shot from Barry Dunning Jr. giving the Jaguars a 3-0 lead off an assist from John Broom. ODU answered back a few possessions later from Davis to even the score 3-3. Dunning answered back with another three at 18:14 before Jaden Johnson finished in the lane to cut ODU’s deficit to one, 6-5. A three from Myles Corey, a layup by Dylan Faoyiro put USA up by seven early in the first half, 12-5. At 16:19 Durugordon made a jumper breaking the USA’s zone defense before Davis hit a three in rhythm to bring ODU down by a basket, 12-10. ODU saw South Alabama’s lead grow back to seven at the 9:28 mark after a made three by Judah Brown before back-to-back jumpers by Durugordon cut the home team’s lead back to three. A layup by Corey at 7:18 and another by Elijah Ormiston at 6:20 re-established the seven point deficit for ODU. USA would extend the lead to double-digits for the first time at 5:54 after Corey finished in the paint making the score 30-20. ODU finished the first half down six, 39-33.
Pounds got the second half started quickly for ODU, finishing an and-one to cut the USA lead back to three at 18:43. Davis came back a minute later at 17:37 and made a three plus the foul to give ODU a 40-39 lead. Durugordon made a three-pointer off a USA turnover to take a 51-47 lead at 11:10 before a made shot in the paint by JJ Wheat at 10:43 and a three-pointer by Brown at 10:05 gave the Jaguars back the lead 52-51. Old Dominion regained the advantage at 4:16 from a layup by Durugordon assisted by Davis before Wheat went 50% at the line to tie the game at 3:52, 61-61. Both teams went scoreless until the 00:59 mark when Wheat finished in the paint to put South Alabama up 63-61. USA proceeded to apply a full-court press on ODU but Sean Durugordon found an angle and took it right to the hole and finished with 39 seconds remaining to tie the game at 63 and send it to overtime.
The Monarchs got on the board first in overtime at 4:19 from a put-back layup from Durugordon to take the lead 65-63. Robert Davis Jr. knocked down his eighth three of the night to put ODU up by five at 2:33. Down the stretch, Durugordon went 3-for-4 at the free throw line to give ODU an eight point lead. ODU’s defense held USA to 0-8 shooting in overtime and forced one turnover.
ODU heads back to Norfolk to open up a four-game homestand, taking on App State on Jan. 16.