YPSILANTI, Mich. - Old Dominion men’s basketball dropped a 76-70 result at Eastern Michigan on Friday afternoon.
The loss brings Old Dominion’s overall record to 11-14. The win brings EMU’s overall record to 11-12.
Robert Davis Jr. led the Monarchs with 18 points followed by Sean Durugordon with 13. R.J. Blakney finished with 11 and Jaden Johnson with 10. The Eagles’ Da’Sean Nelson led all scorers with 21 and shot 61% from the floor. Jalen Terry finished with 18 points and hit four threes in 36 minutes played.
ODU trailed by three at halftime, 29-26. Davis Jr. opened the second half with a three to tie the game for the first time since the opening tip. Old Dominion took a two point lead 35-33 after a Dani Pounds jumper. EMU regained the lead at the 10:22 mark after a Jalin Billingsley made a three to give the Eagles a three point lead, Nelson extended it to five after a made basket at 9:30. The home team’s lead grew to eight after Arne Osojnik made a jumper to make it 59-51. Old Dominion trimmed the opposing team’s lead to four at the 4:26 mark after Johnson hit a pair of free throws.
Durugordon got ODU on the board first after scoring off a turnover by EMU’s Osojnik at the 19:29 mark. EMU took its first lead of the game at 18:42 after Terry’s three pointer found the bottom of the net. ODU trailed by six (25-19) with 3:01 remaining in the first half but a Davis three pointer went in at the buzzer after a well drawn up inbounds play ODU got the Sophomore an open look. ODU went into the locker room trailing by three, 29-26.
The Monarchs shot 42.3% from the field and 29.2% from behind the arc. ODU shot 95% from the free throw line making 19-20 against Eastern Michigan. Durugordon finished with a 15 point and 12 rebound double-double shooting 50% from the floor. ODU grabbed 29 rebounds and dished nine assists while swiping six steals and swatting two blocks.
Eastern Michigan shot 50% from the field and 27.8% from deep. The Eagles won the rebounding battle with a +2-rebounding margin after grabbing 31 boards. EMU shot 30 free throws and made 21 of them for 70% from the line.
Old Dominion will be back in action on Feb. 13 against Georgia State and Feb. 15 against Georgia Southern as they head on a two-game road trip.