HARRISONBURG, Va. – Old Dominion men’s basketball made eight three-pointers in the first half and led by 17 at the break, but could not hold off James Madison in the second half as the Monarchs fell 70-69 on Saturday at the Atlantic Union Bank Center.
“We didn’t make enough plays, especially down the stretch, on both ends of the court,” said ODU head coach Mike Jones. “It wasn’t pretty in the beginning, but we found our groove. Unfortunately, we went away from a lot of the things that got us ahead in the first half.”
KC Shaw led the Monarchs (5-13, 2-4 Sun Belt) with 18 points and seven rebounds, Robert Davis Jr. made four three-pointers and finished with 13 points, and Jordan Battle also finished in double figures with 11 points.
A fast-break layup by LJ Thomas put ODU up 69-61 with just under two minutes to play in the game. JMU’s Justin McBride completed an old-fashioned three-point play on the home team’s next possession, and the junior forward then turned an ODU turnover into another basket as suddenly the Dukes (9-8, 2-3) were back within three, 69-66 with 1:06 left.
With 32 seconds remaining, Scottie Hubbard turned over the ball but quickly stole it back. His layup attempt missed the mark though, and Eddie Ricks III grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Battle. He went to the line with the one-and-one opportunity and converted both of his shots as ODU’s lead shrunk to 69-68.
JMU then fouled Davis Jr. with 25 seconds to go, but his attempt missed the mark, allowing the Dukes to gain possession and call a timeout with 20 seconds on the clock. Coming out of the break, the hosts got the ball down low to Gabe Newhof and he capped off the 9-0 run with a jumper to put JMU in front, 70-69.
The Monarchs advanced the ball and burned their final timeout with two seconds left. With Drew McKenna inbounding, he found Battle cutting to the basket and lobbed a pass to him, but the senior couldn’t get his shot to fall as Ike Cornish sent him to the floor. No foul was called, and JMU completed the comeback to split the regular-season series.
“We’re a work in progress,” continued Jones. “We have to continue to fight and battle. It’s unfortunate that we worked so hard to be where we were and to give one away, so hopefully that doesn’t cost us down the road.”
ODU combined to shoot 37.1% (23-for-62) from the floor, 39.1% (9-for-23) from beyond the arc, and 70% (14-for-20) at the free-throw line. The Monarchs shot 53.3% (8-for-15) from distance in the first half, but were held to 12.5% (1-for-8) from the arc in the second.
Old Dominion scored more points off turnovers (14-4), more second-chance points (10-6), and more points off the bench (21-5). However, they allowed JMU to score 42 points in the paint and were outscored 43-25 in the second half. The Dukes also edged the Monarchs in the rebounding battle, 42-30.
The Dukes scored the first five points of the game before Ben Nacey got to the line and converted both of his free throws. Down 7-2, Davis Jr. hit a triple towards the top of the arc and Shaw went 2-for-2 at the line to even the score at 7-7 with 15:40 on the clock. JMU’s Preston Fowler put the hosts back in control 9-7 with a couple of free throws, but ODU took over with 18 unanswered points.
Davis Jr. started off the run with a made three from the top of the arc. He drew contact and sank his free throw to complete the four-point play. Jared Turner and Davis Jr. then hit four-straight deep balls, and Shaw pushed the Monarch lead to 25-9 with a jumper in the paint at the 10:02 mark.
JMU’s Cliff Davis beat the buzzer with a triple from the right side to end the Dukes’ scoring drought, but Shaw countered with a couple of baskets for a 29-12 advantage. A few minutes later, the home team cut the ODU lead to 34-20 as McBride went 4-for-4 at the charity stripe.
After Nacey turned in another 2-for-2 effort at the line at the 2:55 mark, Battle hit a three-pointer to make it 39-22 with two minutes left. Cornish answered with a three of his own, but Battle got to the line and sank both of his shots before McKenna got his look from the arc to fall. A McBride layup rounded out the first half scoring as ODU took a 44-27 lead into the locker room.
Early in the second half, an 8-2 swing helped JMU pull to within 11, 48-37. The Dukes continued to chip away and pulled to within single digits, 58-51 as McBride sank a couple of free throws at the 8:41 mark. Battle connected from long range for a 63-55 ODU lead, but James Madison put together an 8-2 swing to trail 63-59 with 4:24 on the clock. Battle then went 2-for-2 at the line and Thomas followed with a layup to go back up by eight, 67-59.
“To win in college basketball is not easy. You have to do it consistently. You have to do it for 40 minutes, especially on the road in your league where everybody knows everything. We’ve got to find a way to win the game now, and unfortunately we did not.”
Up Next
The Monarchs will travel to Statesboro, Georgia next Thursday, Jan. 15 for their second meeting with Georgia Southern. Tipoff at the Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center is set for 7 p.m.