PENSACOLA, Fl. (WTKR) — Old Dominion knew it would have to run quite the gauntlet to create some March magic in the Sun Belt Tournament.
Halfway through their stay in the Sunshine State, the Monarchs don't seem to be losing any steam.
Behind 21 points from Sean Durugordon and 18 from Robert Davis Jr., ODU knocked off sixth seeded Appalachian State 61-56 on Friday night to advance to the quarterfinal round of the league tournament.
The silver and blue did much what they did in a road win over a physical Mountaineers team at the end of January, owning a 38-31 rebounding advantage and scoring 22 points in the paint. Down 36-30 at halftime, Mike Jones saw his group come out of the locker rooms and take a swing with a 14-6 run to grab a 44-41 advantage six minutes into the second half.
App State retook a 51-46 lead with 8:48 left to play but ODU's defense only tightened its grip from there, allowing the Mountaineers to score just five points and hit one shot from the field the rest of the way.
A 9-0 run from Durugordon and Davis Jr. helped get Old Dominion a 55-51 lead with 3:09 left. App State was able to trim it down to one multiple times over the next 90 seconds, but ODU kept out in front thanks to clutch free throw shooting from Durugordon, who hit all four of his foul shots in the final 20 seconds to close the win.
The transfer guard went a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe for the game, leading ODU's 10-11 effort from the foul line.
R.J. Blakney chipped in 10 points while Cal Swanton-Rodger contributed seven points, seven rebounds, and four blocks in the victory.
ODU is halfway to completing the magic run through the new Sun Belt Tournament format. Coming in, the Monarchs had to win six in a row to win the league title and Friday's victory was their third in a row.
The Monarchs will face Troy on Saturday night at 9:00 in the quarterfinal round, a Trojan program they did not face in the regular season.
