CONWAY, S.C. (ODUSports.com) - The Old Dominion men’s basketball team fell to the University of Pennsylvania 71-63 in the final day of the Myrtle Beach Classic at the HTC Center on Sunday.
“This afternoon we got great offensive looks that we were just not able to convert,” said Acting Head Coach Bryant Stith. “Defensively we just allowed their best shooters to have open looks for about an eight-minute spell of the second half and that was the difference in the game. We are right there if we can go back and clean up a few things on each end, we can give ourselves an opportunity to have a great chance going into our conference schedule with momentum and confidence.”
Penn opened the game scoring the first five points as a Jordan Dingle jumper put the Quakers ahead 5-0 at the 17:43 mark. ODU tied the game at 9-all after a Jaylin Hunter layup with 13:09 remaining.
The Quakers pushed the advantage to 10 points twice, the last being on a Nick Spinoso 3-pointer with 6:23 left for a 27-17 lead. ODU chipped away at the lead and held the Quakers scoreless over the last 1:54 as a Kalu Ezikpe layup with 33 seconds left gave the halftime score of 31-25.
In the second half, the lead grew to 16 points at the 6:09 mark following a Nick Spinoso free throw for a 64-48 lead. Consecutive 3-pointers from Charles Smith IV helped spearhead a 13-3 run as C.J. Keyser drained a 3-pointer to trim the lead to 67-61 with 2:16 remaining.
Hunter was the leading scorer for Old Dominion with 15 points, six rebounds, three steals and eight rebounds. Smith and Keyser added 12 points, while Ezikpe had 10 points and seven boards.
Old Dominion returns to the home hardwood on Friday at 4 p.m. when they tangle with Longwood at Chartway Arena.
