ODU Men's Basketball Opens At Home By Rolling Past Randolph, 93-53

By Harry Minium

NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion men’s basketball team cranked up its fast break in the second half and rolled past Randolph College, 93-53, Thursday night before a Chartway Arena crowd of 4,411 in the home opener for the Monarchs.

The Monarchs (1-1) bounced back from a disappointing 87-72 loss at Miami of Ohio in the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge on Monday in which ODU was outscored, 50-27, in the second half.

Against Randolph, the Monarchs hit the gas in the second half, expanding a 14-point halftime lead to 40.

It was ODU's most lopsided victory since Feb. 18, 2018, when the Monarchs defeated UTEP, 82-33. 

ODU outscored the WildCats, 20-3, on the fast break in the second half and 33-3 for the game. The taller and more physical Monarchs outrebounded the Division III WildCats, 55-30, and outscored them in the paint, 53-18. 

ODU’s next game comes against a much more formidable opponent – the Monarchs host Norfolk State on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at Chartway Arena.

The game is not yet sold out, but only limited tickets remain.

ODU held off the Spartans, 68-62, when the teams last met three seasons ago. The game drew more than 8,100 to the 8,500-seat Chartway Arena.

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“A coach is supposed to talk about how this is a regular game,” said Mike Jones, ODU’s head coach. “But Norfolk State is not a regular game.

“This is going to be special for our city. It’s going to be special for the 757. We just want to do our part.”

Even though the schools are located just four miles apart, they have met on the basketball court just 21 times in the 59 seasons since their first game in 1965. ODU will visit NSU next season.  

ODU leads the series, 15-6, and has won five in a row and nine of the last 10.

ODU’s KC Shaw, a transfer from Maryland-Eastern Shore, was red hot for the Monarchs, scoring 22 points while making eight of 12 shots before heading to the bench midway through the second half.

LJ Thomas, the Austin Peay transfer, added 16, and Jordan Battle, the Norfolk native who transferred from Coastal Carolina, had 15.

Caelum Swanton-Rodger, a 7-foot center, had 10 points and seven rebounds in just 16 minutes.

At Miami, the Monarchs were without returning starters Robert Davis Jr. and Stephaun Walker, both out with injuries. Davis, the Sun Belt Conference Preseason Player of the Year, returned to the court Thursday but Walker did not.

Davis played sparingly, just seven minutes in the first half. He scored just two points but Jones was satisfied.

“When he got out there, he played with the joy that everybody is used to seeing,” Jones said. “Seeing him play with that energy is infectious.

“If we were reckless, we would have rolled him out there earlier. We sure could have used him Monday, but ultimately, we were smart. A day or two of rest and then we head out for a big game Tuesday.”

Randolph came on the ODU schedule largely because of Jones’ relationship with WildCats’ head coach Evan Kee. Jones was head coach at DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Maryland when Kee was there.

Kee was named Randolph’s head coach in 2024 after leading The Apprentice School in Newport News to a national championship.

Located in Lynchburg, Randolph was founded as Randolph-Macon Women’s College in 1891 and was affiliated with Randolph-Macon College, then an all-men’s school in Ashland, Virginia.

The college changed its name in 2007 when it began to admit men. Its sports teams still wear Randoph-Macon yellow and black.  

The Division III Wildcats do not offer college scholarships, yet hung in with Division I ODU for much of the first half.

Victor Parson, a graduate of Chesapeake’s Western Branch High, made a three-point shot on the break to trim ODU’s lead to 14-11 midway through the first half.

Thomas then made two free throws and a layup, and Shaw added a bank shot, to push the lead to 20-11.

Chris Hayes, a 6-4 junior from Suffolk’s Nansemond River High, cut the lead to 28-23 with a three-point shot with four minutes left in the first half. But that was as close as the WildCats got.

Shaw made a fallaway jump shot just before the halftime buzzer to give ODU a comfortable 40-26 lead. The Monarchs led in spite of missing all 12 of their three-point shots.

"If we'd made half of our three-pointers, the score would have been much different," said LJ Thomas.

Overall, ODU shot well, making 36 of 68 shots (51.5 percent) but made just five of 25 three-pointers.

"We are a ridiculously good shooting team," Jones said. "They didn't all fall for us tonight but they will.

"We took good shots tonight and I was encouraged to see us continue to take good shots even when they weren't falling."

Jones emptied his bench with seven minutes in the game and ODU holding a 30-point lead.

Shaw played against Norfolk State multiple times while at Maryland-Eastern Shore and while the Spartans' roster has been completely overhauled, he is familiar with their style of play.

"We're going to have to be tough," he said. "It's going to be a scrappy game."

Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram

To see past stories from Minium, CLICK HERE