CONWAY, S.C. - RJ Blakney nailed a corner three with 10.9 seconds remaining and Old Dominion men’s basketball defeated Coastal Carolina in its final game of the regular season, 61-59.
ODU improves to 12-19 and 8-10 in the Sun Belt Conference and CCU drops to 10-21 and 3-15 in the SBC.
“It is part of college basketball, we are not in March yet but this is what this time of year is all about. Very resilient by our group and great to see. Great to tough out a ugly win, but a win is a win and in this time of year that is what you want to do,” said Head Coach Mike Jones on the dramatic finale.
With 1:58 remaining in the game CCU’s RaSheed Jones hit a three pointer to take the lead for the first time in the second half, 56-55. Robert Davis Jr. made a layup on the following possession to give ODU a 57-56 lead. Josh Meo hit another three pointer to give CCU a two point lead with 1:17 remaining. Then, RJ Blakney stepped up with 11 seconds remaining after a chaotic possession and drained the corner three to again take the lead, 60-59. The Chanticleers threw the ball away on the next possession. Davis Jr. made one of two free throws to put the Monarchs up by two, 61-59. Jones would have a chance to win the game but missed a three as time expired.
ODU took the lead in the first half after Caden Diggs hit a three pointer to give ODU a 12-9 with 10:34 left and they would not give back control to the Chanticleers for the rest of the half. The Monarchs extended its lead to seven after a jumper by Donovan Raymond at the 9:04 mark that put Old Dominion up 16-9. The Monarchs went up by nine with 1:05 left in the first half before back-to-back threes by Jordan Battle cut the home team deficit to only three points heading into halftime, 27-24. ODU scored 11 points off turnovers and 15 from bench players.
The Chanticleers fought back to cut the deficit to one point at the 19:07 mark of the second half and one by Colin Granger bringing the score to 28-27. ODU pushed its lead back to four after a three-pointer by Robert Davis Jr. ODU grew the lead to six points after another three by Davis Jr. at the 8:30 mark. Sean Durugordon made a layup at 5:11 to push it to seven points, 53-46. At 3:27 Colin Granger scored two points at the charity stripe and then proceeded to hit a three on the Chanticleers next possession to cut the home team’s deficit to two points, 55-53, with 2:50 remaining.
“How many shot clock violations or near shot clock violations were forced? It's great to see that we were able to do that. That is something that we can take and we’ve been talking for the last week about momentum, this is momentum, this is what we needed,” added Jones.
ODU shot 29.5% from the field today, 36.4% from deep, and 73.9% from the free throw line. The Monarchs grabbed 39 rebounds,14 of which were offensive and dished seven assists. On the defensive end Old Dominion blocked four shots and swiped eight steals. ODU scored 24 points off turnovers, 13 second chance points, and seven on the fast break.
CCU shot 35.2% from the field, 36% from deep, and 80% at the charity stripe. The Chanticleers grabbed 44 rebounds, 11 offensive and dished 10 assists. The home team scored 20 bench points, 14 in the paint, and seven off turnovers.
Four Monarchs scored in double figures, Davis Jr. led ODU with 14 points. Sean Durugordon and RJ Blakney scored 12 points each and Caden Diggs scored 10 points all in the first half. Durugordon led the team with 12 rebounds followed by Blakney with seven boards. Swanton-Rodger swatted three blocks and swiped two steals on the defensive end while grabbing five rebounds and scoring four points.
Jordan Battle and Granger combined for 38 points. 20 were scored by Battle and 18 for Granger. Josh Meo chipped in 10 points and two assists. Noah Amenhauser was held scoreless but grabbed 10 rebounds and dished two assists. Jones scored five points, grabbed five rebounds, and recorded two assists.
“Now let's figure out where we’re going to be, who we’re playing, and let's get to work,” said Jones.
Old Dominion awaits results from around the conference and will be notified by the Sun Belt Conference when they will play next.