LAFAYETTE, La. - Old Dominion men’s basketball led for the majority of the game as Sean Durugordon scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Monarchs to a 71-60 win at Louisiana on Thursday night.
Old Dominion is now 7-9 overall and 3-1 in the Sun Belt. The defeat brings Louisiana to a record of 4-12 and 2-2 in the Sun Belt.
A layup by Caelum Swanton-Rodger, a pullup in the paint by Jaden Johnson, and a pair of free throws got ODU out to a six-point lead to start the game. By the 13:26 mark, ODU had grown the lead to 10 (14-4) after a made free throw by freshman Caden Diggs. For the remainder of the half the Ragin Cajuns chipped into the Monarch lead and after a 12-0 run held their first lead at the 4:38 mark (23-21) after Kyndall Davis made a driving layup. Durugordon answered back with made threes on back-to-back possessions as both sides traded the lead in the last minute of the half. R.J. Blakney made a three-pointer assisted by Johnson with five seconds remaining to give ODU a 32-30 lead at halftime.
Louisiana got off to a strong start to open the second half to jump out to a 39-34 lead, its largest of the night. The Monarchs stormed back with a run of their own, a nine-point run to take back the lead 43-39 after a made free throw by Durugordon. A Dani Pounds pick-and-pop three at the 9:08 mark grew ODU’s lead to double-digits for the first time in the second (57-47). The closest ULL would be able to claw back to was nine points from then on, closing out the 11-point victory.
Durugordon finished with 20 points, the third time this season he has scored 20+ points. The transfer from Siena went a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line along with grabbing a team high seven rebounds. ODU had three players score in double figures, with Robert Davis Jr. and Johnson both scoring 13 points in the win. Johnson finished with six assists, five rebounds, and went 5-6 from the line. Davis had two assists including a full court pass to Blakney for a fastbreak layup and two made threes in 39 minutes played. Blakney went 3-4 from the field and grabbed six boards in his 21 minutes of action. He also swatted two blocks and snagged one steal.
As a team, the Monarchs shot 45% from the field (22-49), 77% at the free throw line (20-26), and 33% from beyond the arc (7-21). ODU led for 33:49 of the game and their largest lead was 13.
The Monarchs travel to South Alabama for a Sun Belt Conference matchup on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 3 p.m.