ATLANTA - Old Dominion men’s basketball dropped a 97-75 result on Thursday night at Georgia State.
The loss brings ODU’s overall record to 11-15 and a Sun Belt record of 7-6. Georgia State’s overall record improves to 11-15 and is 6-7 in league play.
The score was 16-15 in favor of the Panthers at the 12:17 mark of the first half before a driving layup by Zarique Nutter, a pullup jumper by Malachi Brown, and two more driving layups by Nutter gave the Panthers an eight-point lead. A hookshot in the paint by Cesari Edwards at 6:47, a three by Toneari Lane at 5:47 put the Monarchs down 14. ODU would head into the locker room down by 16, 41-25.
Lane (13), Edwards (12), and Zarique Nutter (8) combined for 33 of the Panthers’ 39 first half points. Caelum Swanton-Rodger scored six points in the first five minutes of action and was tied with Jaden Johnson (6) as the Monarchs’ leading scorers of the first half.
Georgia State started the second half on a 9-0 run after a layup by Cesari, a step back jumper by Jelani Hamilton, a three by Lane, and a dunk by Edwards. Swanton-Rodger scored in the paint to stop the run after a timeout by Head Coach Mike Jones.
Sean Durugordon led the Monarchs with 21 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and went 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Swanton-Rodger finished with a career high 16 points along with grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out one assist. Freshman Jaden Johnson pitched in 12 points and Robert Davis Jr. scored 11. GSU’s Cesari Edwards led all scorers on the night with 29 points on 12-13 shooting, grabbing 11 rebounds and recording four blocks. Lane finished with 21 points on 7-9 shooting. Nutter finished with 18 points on 8-13 shooting and grabbed two rebounds.
Old Dominion shot 41.8% from the field (28-for-67) and 20.8% from behind the arc (5-for-24). From the free throw line the Monarchs shot 87.5% (14-for-16) and grabbed 32 rebounds (14 offensive). The Monarchs had 15 points off the bench, 36 in the paint, 10 points off turnovers, and seven fastbreak points.
Georgia State shot 65.5% (36-for-55) and 53.3% (8-for-15) from three-point range. The Panthers shot 65.4% from the charity stripe, grabbed 31 rebounds and dished 14 assists along with blocking six shots and swiping six steals. Georgia State scored 48 points in the paint and 20 off of turnovers.
The Monarchs are next in action on Saturday. Feb 15 against Georgia Southern at 3 p.m.