NORFOLK, VA (WTKR) — When Old Dominion lost its first game back in the Sun Belt to Arkansas State, Jeff Jones challenged his team by calling them "soft."
17 games later, the Monarch coach having to break out the Thesaurus to find the words to describe the pride he has for his team's turnaround.
For the second game in a row, ODU knocked off one of the Sun Belt's top teams, taking down Marshall on Friday night 71-67. A milestone victory for Jones, picking up win number 200 in his ODU tenure.
With 15:14 to play, the Thundering Herd led 45-38 after a pair of Taevion Kinsey free throws. Over the next 3:29, the silver and blue used a 14-2 run to storm back and take a 52-47 lead.
Chaunce Jenkins scored 23 points in the game to lead the Monarchs. He picked up his fourth foul with 8:11 to play, was subbed out and stayed on the bench until 2:33 left in the game. In that span, ODU limited Marshall to just four points and one made basket.
After the lead was cut down to two points, Mekhi Long hit a jumper to break a four minute scoring drought and Imo Essien followed it up with a layup to send the advantage back up to six with 4:49 to go.
Tyreek Scott-Grayson finished with 13 points, Long scored nine points, and Essien contributed eight off the bench.
The Monarchs wrapped up the regular season at 19-11, 11-7 in Sun Belt play. It is Old Dominion's eighth in its last ten games, completing a turnaround for a team that was 11-9 and 3-5 in conference games a month ago.
ODU is now locked into the sixth seed for the Summit League Tournament, it will play its opening game next Thursday at 6:00 p.m. on ESPN+
