LEWISBURG, Pa. - Jared Turner drained a career-high eight three-pointers and six in the second half as the Monarchs earned an 82-62 win at Bucknell on Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion.
"We've got three wins now and we've won three different ways. This game was a grinder in the beginning, kind of like Western Michigan, and then we had one of those spurts that we've seen a lot all throughout the summer and the fall. So we know we're capable of that and it was right on time tonight," said ODU head coach Mike Jones.
The Monarchs (3-0) were tied with the Bison at the 12:40 mark of the second half after BU’s (0-2) Rocco Lamuno went 2-for-2 at the free throw line. The Silver and Blue would then open up an 11-1 run in enemy territory, Adante’ Holiman drained a deep three from the wing at 12:04, Turner followed Holiman’s idea and hit his own at 11:19, a jumper by Jotham Nweke at 10:39, and a three made free throws by Zacch Wiggins on four attempts made the game 54-44 with 9:10 left to play.
Bucknell’s Jayden Williams answered back with a three to trim the Monarchs lead to seven, but 22 seconds later Turner came down and drilled another three-pointer, 57-47. Bubu Benjamin was fouled on ODU’s next offensive possession and had a perfect trip to the line to extend the Silver and Blue’s lead to 12 points.
Turner would score the next nine points for ODU by going 3-for-3 from behind the arc. BU’s Aleksander Pachucki missed a turnaround jumper on the next possession and Benjamin collected the rebound at 7:28. As the Monarchs pushed the pace, Holiman ran a set for Turner and found the Silver Spring, Maryland native on the wing for the triple, his sixth made three of the night and his 18th point, 62-47.
Turner capitalized on another Bucknell miss as it turned into momentum for the Monarchs, Nweke grabbed the defensive board and the ball found Turner with an open three again for a 65-47 lead. Pachucki made a three the next trip down to cut ODU’s lead to 15 but Turner couldn’t be stopped with an audacious turn around three pointer from way behind the line. He made it in the face of a BU defender and banked it home for a 68-50 lead. ODU would cruise the rest of the way and earn an 82-62 win to improve to 3-0 for the first time since the 2015-16 season.
Bucknell’s Patrick O’Brien scored the first points of the night after taking it coast-to-coast plus the foul after grabbing a defensive rebound from a Zamoku Weluche-Ume missed layup. O’Brien made his free throw and BU extended its lead to 5-0 after a made layup by Luca Soroa Schaller at 18:15. Benjamin made the Monarchs’ first basket on a made three pointer to cut it back to a one-possession game. Wiggins leveled the game with a turnaround jumper and the dime going to Benjamin. The Monarchs earned their first lead of the evening from none other than Turner on a made three-pointer. BU’s Ethan Marten-Coney made a layup and Turner made his first three of the night on the next possession, 8-7.
Holiman gave the Silver and Blue a four-point advantage after forcing a Schaller miss. The McAlester, Oklahoma native hit a tough jumper in the face of a Bison defender but a good pass by Benjamin was enough to give another assist. Benjamin was involved in the Monarchs’ first 11 points with one made three and three assists.
Old Dominion grew its first half lead to six after a made driving layup by Wiggins at 8:21 made the game 19-13. A pair of Benjamin free throws made it 21-13 before a Schaller three-pointer trimmed the ODU lead back to five, 21-16. The Bison drew even by 4:33 after a perfect trip to the line from Lamuno and a Coney three tied the game at 21. A minute and a half later the next basket would be made and it was Turner again with an important three-point shot to go back up by three. Khoi Thurman scored a driving layup to go up 26-21 but the Bison would score the final four points of the half. Jayden Williams went 2-for-2 at the line and O’Brien slammed home a dunk with 32 seconds left as the Monarchs went into their locker room up by one, 26-25.
Turner and Holiman combined for 41 points. Turner came up big tonight with 24 points and seven rebounds. Holiman finished with 17 points, three assists, two rebounds, and one steal. Wiggins ended the night with 12 points on nine shot attempts while Benjamin had 11 points, four assists, two rebounds, and one steal. Holiman and Wiggins both played 33 minutes and started the game while Turner had the team’s third most time on the court at 28 minutes.
UP NEXT:
Old Dominion travels to Norfolk State to face the Spartans on Wednesday, November 11 at 7 p.m.