NORFOLK, Va (WTKR) — A surge at the end of the first half and a strong second half from Chaunce Jenkins giving Old Dominion enough juice to hold off a challenge from Virginia Wesleyan.
Jenkins scored 16 points, 12 coming in the second half, to help guide the Monarchs to a 71-57 win in their season opener.
"Tonight is what you would expect of a season opener," ODU coach Jeff Jones said. "There were stretches where I thought we played really, really well and then there were some where I thought we were just kind of sloppy."
After starting the game down as many as 11, the Marlins started chipping away with some hot shooting. Jones called a timeout with 11:46 left in the opening half, just a few seconds after coming out of another stoppage, after numerous loose balls went VWU's way.
"We've got to learn to do that," Jones said. "Because what happens if you don't is that you've played your butts off defensively, but if you don't get the loose ball, you've giving up a wide open three. We gave up five threes in the first half. That's 15 points."
The visitors, making a 15-minute drive to ODU, close the gap to 23-19 with 7:09 remaining in the first half. The silver and blue collected itself, finishing the stretch on a 17-7 run to get to the locker rooms up 40-26.
After the break, the Monarchs found their rhythm and stretched the lead out to as many as 24. ODU scored 16 points off of 14 turnovers and outrebounded the Marlins 49-33.
Oregon transfer Tyrone Williams chipped in 15 points while Bryce Baker put up 12 points in the victory. Virginia Wesleyan was led by Braden Justice and Khai Seargeant, each scoring 11 in the game.
ODU turns its attention to a pair of road games, first at Ball State on Saturday followed by a trip to Arkansas. The Razorbacks are ranked 14th in the AP Top 25 poll.
Virginia Wesleyan officially opens its season on Wednesday with William Peace coming to TowneBank Arena.
