STATESBORO, Ga. - Old Dominion men’s basketball fell behind 15-4 to Georgia Southern in the first five minutes of the first half and recovered late to cut the deficit to three with four seconds remaining but it was not enough, losing 78-75 on Saturday night in Statesboro.
ODU got on the board first thanks to a pullup jumper by Jaden Johnson at 19:30 of the first half. Tyson Brown responded for the Eagles scoring a layup to even it up, Adante Holiman scored off a turnover, a jumper by Eren Banks, and two three-pointers by Eugene Brown III in the span of a minute put ODU down 12-2 with 15:27 in the half.
ODU went on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to four after a pullup jumper by Caden Diggs, a three-pointer by Sean Durugordon, and a pair of dunks by Caelum Swanton-Rodger on consecutive possessions brought the score to 20-16 with 9:25 in the first. The Eagles responded a few minutes later with a layup by Brown, a stepback three by Banks, a driving layup by Brown, a made three by Holiman, and a layup by Banks that extended the home team's lead to 15, 36-21. ODU would go back to the locker room trailing 42-27.
Holiman extended the Eagle’s lead to 16 after a made layup at 14:14 in the second half. Scottie Hubbard hit a stepback corner three on the following possession to cut the home team’s lead to 13. At 10:50 Robert Davis Jr. hit a three, a free throw by Hubbard, a three-pointer by Vytautas Zygas, and a layup by Durugordon brought the score to 59-52. Georgia Southern would respond with Holiman on back-to-back possessions by making two three-pointers to stretch the home lead back to 13.
Johnson would claw the game back to three for ODU with four seconds after a and-one layup by Johnson plus the free throw, a mid-range pullup by Johnson, a pair of free throws by Johnson, and another driving layup by Johnson made the score 78-75. Robert Davis Jr. had a chance to tie the game with a corner three but it did not fall.
ODU shot 44.1% from the floor on 26-59 shooting, from deep ODU shot 31.8% on 7-22 shooting. From the charity stripe, the Monarchs shot 66.7% (16-24). ODU grabbed 41 rebounds, dished 11 assists, swatted three blocks and swiped six steals on the defensive end.
Georgia Southern shot 40.6% from the field (28-69) and 32.4% from deep (11-34). The Eagles shot 68.8% from the free throw line (11-16). GASO grabbed 42 rebounds, dished 18 assists, blocked five shots and swiped seven steals.
Durugordon scored 24 points on 8-13 shooting and went 6-8 from the charity stripe. The redshirt senior grabbed 10 rebounds for his 11th straight double-double. Johnson finished with 14 points on 5-9 shooting. Diggs recorded a new career high of 11 points grabbing five rebounds and dished three assists.
Holiman led the Eagles with 24 points on 8-18 shooting. Brown finished with 17 points and Banks 14. Brown grabbed 13 rebounds, dished five assists, and swatted four blocks. Georgia Southern scored 32 points in the paint and 22 off turnovers
ODU returns to Norfolk for the final two home games this season, facing off against Marshall and Georgia State.