Men's Basketball Knocks Off Ohio in MAC-SBC Challenge, 78-72
By Harry Minium
NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion Men's Basketball team defeated Ohio, 78-72 in the second round of the MAC-SBC Challenge, as KC Shaw led four Monarchs in double-figures on Saturday night.
The Monarchs rallied from an early 10-point deficit, took control midway through the second half and then held off an Ohio rally before 6,657 cheering fans at Chartway Arena.
Ohio (13-12) is fourth in the Mid-American Conference, a league ranked ahead of the Sun Belt in the NCAA NET rankings, and the Bobcats had won eight of their last 12 games.
ODU (8-17) trailed early but only briefly fell behind in the second half and built its lead to seven on a Jordan Battle jumper with just over six minutes remaining.
The Monarchs outrebounded the Bobcats 36-32, shot well (45.2 percent), outscored Ohio in the paint by 10, and made 16-of-18 foul shots (89 percent).
And they played with poise down the stretch when Ohio mounted a frenetic comeback.
They were egged on by the crowd, which was ODU’s most vocal home crowd of the New Year, and one of the most vocal of the season.
“We don’t deserve that crowd,” Jones said. “We haven’t played well enough to get that. So, a huge shout out to our fan base for showing up tonight. The energy, especially late in the game, was something that willed us to be able to get it done.”
Shaw led ODU with 17 points and LJ Thomas and Battle added 13 apiece. Caelum Swanton-Rodger had 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
ODU led at the half by five, 40-35, but trailed 10 minutes into the second half, 56-54.
Jared Turner made back-to-back shots and ODU led, 61-56 with 8:14 left.
Ohio narrowed the margin to two points three times in the final minutes, but each time, ODU responded.
Ohio’s Javan Simmons made two free throws with 1:43 to narrow the lead to two for the last time, 73-71.
Thomas came up big on ODU’s next two possession, making four of four free throws and ODU led, 77-72, with 42.2 seconds left.
The Bobcats missed twice from long distance in the final seconds, and as the final buzzer sounded, the crowd rose to give the Monarchs a standing ovation.
ODU got off to a lethargic start as Ohio rolled to a 16-6 lead in the game’s first 5 ½ minutes. Eight of Ohio’s 16 points came off of uncontested fast-break layups.
But the Monarchs tightened up their defense and got the fast-break in gear and outscored the Bobcats, 32-15, over the next 12 minutes to take a 38-31 lead.
Battle had nine of ODU’s points in that stretch and Shaw six.
The Monarchs host Marshall next Wednesday, Feb. 11, and Georgia State on Saturday, Feb. 14 before concluding their home schedule on Monday, Feb. 16, against Louisiana.
The Georgia State game is to be played on Valentine’s Day, and ODU will retire the jersey number of former All-American Ronnie Valentine at halftime.
With six regular-season games left to play, “It was huge for this team to win this game,” Thomas said.
“But there’s more work to be done. We’ve got to close out the season strong.”
Minium is ODU's Senior Executive Writer for Athletics. Contact him at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
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