HOUSTON, Texas (ODU Athletic Communications) – Jeff Jones obtained his 100th victory as head coach of the Old Dominion men’s basketball team, as ODU (11-3, 2-0 C-USA) won its sixth straight game, claiming an 82-75 overtime win at Rice (3-13, 0-3 C-USA) on Thursday night at Tudor Fieldhouse.
B.J. Stith had a huge dunk early in the 2nd half against FIU.
B.J. Stith led all scorers and tied his career-high of 26 points to go along with nine rebounds and two assists.
With 17:20 to play in the second half, Old Dominion held a seven-point lead (43-36). The Owls would claw back to take a 59-57 advantage with 7:13 remaining in regulation.
A 10-2 run put the Monarchs up 67-61 with 2:48 left in the contest, before Rice ended the second half on a 8-2 run, forcing overtime with the score tied at 69-69.
ODU scored the first eight points in overtime, taking a 77-69 lead with 68 seconds remaining in overtime, before ultimately claiming a seven-point victory on Thursday night.
“We are thrilled to get the win, but we have to be better than this,” said Jones. “This was a dogfight tonight and we had enough to get the win, but we have a lot to work on moving forward. Looking ahead, North Texas is a much better team this season than they were last season, so we need to be ready to play on Saturday.”
Ahmad Caver recorded a double-double in a 19 point, 10 assist, four rebound and four steal effort. Trey Porter also poured in 19 points to compliment eight rebounds and two blocks. Randy Haynes notched nine points, a career-high seven assists and two steals, while Brandan Stith went for seven points and eight boards.
Old Dominion led by as many as 10 points, 20-10, with 11:30 left in the first half; however, the Owls answered with a 17-5 run to take a 27-25 advantage at the 4:28 mark. The Monarchs answered on a 10-4 run, claiming a 35-31 lead at halftime, behind a half-high 11 points from B.J. Stith.
Old Dominion will remain on the road for a Saturday showdown in Denton against the Mean Green of North Texas at 6:00 p.m. EST on Jan. 6th. Saturday night’s contest will air on C-USA TV.
