NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion men’s basketball used a 10-0 run to close out the first half and the Monarchs opened Sun Belt Conference play with a 77-68 win over James Madison in the TowneBank Royal Rivalry game at Chartway Arena.
KC Shaw eclipsed 1,000 career points on the night and led ODU with 22 points and nine rebounds. Jordan Battle scored 19 points with a perfect 10-for-10 shooting at the free-throw line, and Jared Turner finished with 14 points after tying his season high with four three-pointers.
"So thankful to our fan base to show up here tonight with everything going on with our athletic department," said ODU head coach Mike Jones after the win. "The football team playing, and those fans that showed up this morning to support our women. It was a long day for a lot of people, so I want to make sure first and foremost that I say thank you."
"This is truly a privilege and an honor to be a coach and a basketball program in this community, and tonight is one of the reasons why I can say that with all my heart."
The Monarchs (4-8, 1-0 Sun Belt) put together a 6-0 run to open the game as Shaw scored a couple of layups and Caelum Swanton-Rodger added another.
The Monarchs combined to shoot 39.6% (21-for-53) from the floor, including 32.0% (8-for-25) from beyond the arc, and 81.8% (27-for-33) at the line. The Dukes (7-5, 0-1) countered with a 6-0 push of their own, capped off by a Justin McBride dunk that put the visitors up 10-9 at the 13:16 mark.
Threes by Cliff Davis and McBride put JMU up 18-14 with just over eight minutes to play in the first half. ODU didn’t flinch, though, as threes by Turner and Battle fueled an 8-0 stretch as the Monarchs regained control, 24-20. Following a layup by JMU’s Christian Brown, ODU put together 10 unanswered points over the final two minutes. Battle converted all four of his shots at the line, Robert Davis Jr. went 2-for-2 at the charity stripe, and Shaw saw both of his shots fall as ODU went into the locker room with a 34-22 lead.
The 22 points were the fewest the Monarchs have allowed in a half this season. ODU also snapped JMU’s nine-game win streak in the series. The victory was ODU’s first over the Dukes since a 67-42 final on Dec. 2, 2018.
Asked about his team's preparation coming into the game, Jones added, "I think we were just excited to play again back at home. We've tried to be as prepared as we can for every single game, but I think the excitement of playing back home and playing an in-state rival, the team that many people picked to win our league this year, was huge."
The Monarchs held onto their double-digit lead for most of the second half, with the team going up by as many as 17, 53-36 on a Turner three ball at the 14:37 mark. James Madison had a couple of 6-0 stretches to pull to within seven, 57-50 with 9:06 left in the game. However, the Dukes continued to send ODU to the line and the Monarchs kept making the free throws, shooting 19-for-24 in the second stanza.
A Bradley Douglas layup cut the ODU lead to seven, 75-68, but with just 22 seconds remaining, the Dukes couldn’t get any closer. Davis Jr. closed out the game with another 2-for-2 effort at the stripe.
"This was probably one of the biggest days in our athletic department history in the past decade, and I want to make sure Dr. Hemphill and Dr. Selig both get their flowers for putting us all in a position to enjoy today."
ODU turned 12 JMU turnovers into 16 points and led for over 32 minutes. There was just one tie and only four lead changes, all in the first half.
Up Next
ODU will be back on its home court this Saturday as the Monarchs welcome Coastal Carolina for a 2 p.m. game at Chartway Arena.