ODU Men's Basketball Falls To Sun Belt Rival Coastal Carolina, 76-74
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion men’s basketball team outshot and outrebounded Coastal Carolina, but dropped a 76-74 Sun Belt Conference loss largely because of turnovers and ODU’s inability to execute in the game’s final minutes.
The Chanticleers scored 18 points off 13 ODU turnovers and made all 10 free throws they attempted in the final 2:47. Crucially, four of ODU’s turnovers occurred during the final 5:53.
ODU (4-9 overall, 1-1 Sun Belt) was coming off a huge win, a 77-68 triumph over James Madison, the Sun Belt preseason favorite, on Wednesday. The victory was the first over JMU since 2018.
Saturday’s loss was a giant step back, said ODU Head Coach Mike Jones, who was visibly disappointed in his team’s effort.
“I’m frustrated,” he said. “All of these Sun Belt games are going to be battles. We understand that and give Coastal credit.
“But I’m very disappointed that we were not able to find a way to win tonight. There will be many things that jump off the film when we sit down to watch it, but we’ve got to do a better job, especially in the last eight minutes of the game, taking care of the basketball and executing at both ends.”
Jordan Battle, the Norfolk native who transferred to ODU from Coastal, led the Monarchs with 23 points, including 22 in the second half. KC Shaw added 20 points and Caelum Swanton-Rodger added 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots.
ODU trailed by five, 34-29, after a listless first half. Joshua Beadle, a graduate transfer from Boston College, pushed the Coastal lead to five on an open one-handed shot just outside the lane.
The Monarchs were without LJ Thomas, their second-leading scorer, for the second game in a row with an injury. And for much of the first half, they were without Swanton-Rodger and Jared Turner, who both got into early foul trouble.
Their return in the second half helped ODU regain some momentum, and the lead.
Swanton-Rodger had seven rebounds, a blocked shot, an assist and a dunk over the first eight minutes of the second period. Turner made a three-point shot with 11:33 left to give the Monarchs a 49-47 lead.
In a game that featured 17 lead changes and 11 ties, Swanton-Rodger gave ODU its last lead, 63-62, on a dunk with 4:08 left.
But down the stretch, Coastal found ways to score far more than ODU.
Beadle made two free throws with 2:47 left to give Coastal the lead for good, 64-63. ODU committed turnovers on its next two possessions, and Coastal made four more free throws to make it 68-63.
Robert Davis Jr., who had eight points and 10 rebounds, narrowed the margin to 68-66, on a three-point shot with 1:28 left. But the Monarchs could not quite claw all the way back.
RaSheed Jones, who led Coastal with 23 points, made a short jump shot with 19 seconds left. Following a missed Battle jump shot, Nadjrick Peat made two free throws with nine seconds left to give Coastal a 74-68 lead.
Battle made two three-pointers, including one from beyond half-court, but it was too little too late.
In spite of the loss, much of the day was upbeat at Chartway Arena. The ODU football team defeated South Florida, 24-10 in the StaffDNA Cure Bowl, and the Cure Bowl victory was celebrated.
The Cure Bowl trophy was on display in the Chartway Arena lobby, and hundreds of fans took their photos with the trophy.
ODU Head Football Coach Ricky Rahne and players Devin Roche, Zack Barlev, Stephon Dubose-Bourne and Ricardo Williams carried the trophy to midcourt at halftime and drew a sustained, standing ovation from the crowd of 4,367.
Jones said that winning at home, in front of your home crowd, is crucial for ODU’s Sun Belt hopes. Because of the seeding process in the Sun Belt tournament, it is critical to finish at least among the top four seeds.
The Monarchs finished 10th last year and won three games in three nights before falling to eventual champion Troy in the quarterfinals. The further down the standings you finish, the more games you have to play to get to the final.
“Every single one of these games matter,” Jones said. “One of our biggest goals this season was to do much better at home than we did a year ago. We get nine chances at home (against Sun Belt teams) and we’ve already played two.
“We’ve got to be better than that.”
The Monarchs next play at Maryland of the Big Ten on Sunday, Dec. 28, before returning home for a New Year’s Eve game against App State. The Maryland game marks the return home for Jones, who grew up in Maryland and coached at the University of Maryland.
Swanton-Rodger transferred to ODU from Maryland.
“Being back in College Park will be cool,” Swanton-Rodger said. “But it’s a chance for us to get a big win on the road, and I’m just focusing on that.”
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