NORFOLK, Va. — NORFOLK, Va. (WTKR) — In the biggest spots of Saturday's game against Southern Miss, Old Dominion put the ball in the hands of freshman point guard Jaden Johnson to make the right decisions.
The first year playing beyond his years.
Johnson hit an and-1 layup with 36 seconds to play to put ODU ahead of and ultimately off the Golden Eagles 74-71.
"We figured out that we're just going to run this play no matter what defense they were in," said ODU head coach Mike Jones. "And we were able to get Jaden downhill. Now, honestly he's supposed to go the other way but I'm glad he went right and he was able to finish with his right hand."
It's the continuation of Johnson's terrific introduction to the silver and blue, one that's seen plenty of moments of composure.
"Jaden is an old freshman,” Jones said. “I’ve seen the competitor he is. He was one of the first people that I got in contact with when I got here. He's an amazing basketball player, he's a great kid.”
"I thought (Johnson) was going to throw it to me, but he drove and they called the foul," said ODU guard Robert Davis Jr., who finished with a team-high 18 points. "I'm looking, ball goes and in, and I couldn't do anything but say, 'That's my point guard, that's my freshman.'"
Johnson finished the game with seven points and nine assists, which ties his season-high.
Before his heroics, the Monarchs found themselves in a nip-and-tuck battle with the Golden Eagles. The lead changed between the two teams 12 times and neither led by more than seven points.
With 12 minutes left to play ODU found itself down 55-50, but used an 8-0 run to get the lead back at 58-55 with 7:09 remaining.
Southern Miss would find a way to get the lead back with 4:10 to go, but Johnson responded with a step back jumper to give ODU the advantage at 64-63 at the final TV timeout.
ODU got the lead up to 68-64 but the visitors were able to tie things up with 58 seconds on the clock before Johnson hit the go-ahead layup.
The win comes on the heels of a 78-59 loss to Arkansas State on Thursday night.
"If you walked in yesterday, you would have thought we were at a funeral,” Jones said. “We were in practice, and our mood was just low. I had to remind them that, ‘Hey fellas, there’s four teams that are 2-0, there’s four teams that are 0-2. We’re one of the six that are 1-1. It’s not like we’re 0-8, let’s pick it up.’”
"Going into that was a little wonky for us and then a couple guys being banged up, not really being able to go full speed. So the energy just wasn't there," Davis said. "But I trust that my guys are going to be there for game time, and if not I'm going to make sure of that as a captain."
The Monarchs shot the ball much better than they did a few nights ago, making 46 percent of their shots from the floor and sinking 22 of 29 free throw attempts. Even though the three-point shooting struggled again, going just 2-for-17, the silver and blue found a way to stay connected.
"One of the things we are known for now is we are one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country," Jones said. " We didn't do that in the first half, and we challenged our guys and we did a much better job of that in the second half."
"We need a few more pillars to it, but I'm very proud that's one of the ones we're starting with."
Sean Durugordon posted 16 points with nine rebounds, while Caelum Swanton-Rodger chipped in 12 points and eight boards and Stephaun Walker scored 11 in the win.
ODU improves to 6-9 with the win and 2-1 in the early Sun Belt slate. Up next is its first full road weekend in the conference schedule, heading to Louisiana on Thursday night before going to South Alabama next Saturday.
