TROY, AL (WTKR)- Old Dominion stepped up its defensive effort in the second half, trimming a 13 point deficit to two, but ran out of steam down the stretch.
Tyreek Scott-Grayson's career-high 31 points wasn't enough, as the Monarchs fell to Troy, 78-71, on Thursday night in the first ever meeting between the two programs. The loss dropped ODU's record to 9-6, 1-2 in the Sun Belt.
The Trojans started to create some space towards the end of the first half, going into the locker room with a 38-32 advantage. The home team came out on fire in the second, opening up its lead to 13 points with 11:30 to play.
Old Dominion chipped away at the gap over the course of the following four minutes. Imo Essien's lay-up with 7:22 remaining cut the lead to 63-60. After a couple of Trojan buckets, Scott-Grayson knocked down a three and Ben Stanley finished a transition opportunity with a dunk to pull the Monarchs to within two, but that's as close as they would get.
Troy slammed the door with a little more than a minute to go. With Old Dominion possessing the ball and down by four, Nelson Phillips came up with the steal and finished on the other end with a two-handed dunk. The Trojans would hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Scott-Grayson's career night came on 8-of-13 shooting, 5-of-7 from three point range and the senior converted on all ten of his free throw attempts. Stanley added 14 points and seven rebounds. Phillips led four Trojans in double figures with 17 points off the bench.
ODU shot just 34.5 percent from the floor for the contest and shot below 30 percent for the first half.
The Monarchs fall to 0-3 in true road games and 1-5 in contests away from Chartway Arena. They'll visit Georgia Southern for a 3:00 showdown with the Eagles on Saturday.
