ATLANTA, GA (WTKR)- For awhile, it looked as though Old Dominion would celebrate its first Sun Belt and road victory of the season, but as Monarch fans have seen before, the team could not close down a win.
ODU saw a 20 point first half lead slip away and fell to Georgia State, 77-70, in conference action Thursday night. The loss dropped the Monarchs to 4-12, 0-4 in Sun Belt play and 0-7 on the road.
Kieran Donohue's club used a 20-5 first half run to open up a 26-10 advantage with 11:14 to play in the opening frame. The silver and blue would extend it to 39-19 by the 6:46 mark of the half and hold a 45-33 lead at the break.
The second half, however, saw Georgia State chip away. The Panthers narrowed the Monarch advantage and took the lead at 65-64 with 5:20 left on the clock. Vasean Allette would put ODU back in front during the next possession, but the home team quickly moved back on top. Tyrone Williams' lay-up with 2:17 to play tied the game up at 70, but Toneari Lane answered with a three-pointer to put GSU in front for good.
Allette led the way for the Monarchs with 19 points, adding seven rebounds and nine assists to his stat line. Williams added 17 points, while Blakney chipped in 12 points, knocking down all four his three-point attempts in the first half. Devin Ceaser rounded out the Monarchs in double figures with ten points. Lane led all scorers with 23 points.
Georgia State controlled the glass, out-rebounding Old Dominion, 47-34. That helped them rack up 20 second chance points. Free throws once again hurt the silver and blue, as they were 9-17 from the charity stripe.
The Monarchs did a good job at taking care of the basketball, only committing six turnovers throughout the contest.
This marks the second time in the last two weeks that ODU has seen a big lead disappear and turn into a loss. The team led by 22 points with 14:08 remaining against South Alabama on December 30, only to fall, 61-59.
Old Dominion is back in action Saturday afternoon at Coastal Carolina. Tip-off is set for 3:30 PM.
