NORFOLK, Va. (WTKR) — A team's gone through so much adversity season finally got a night to throw a massive celebration.
Behind Ty Williams' career-high 33 points and head coach Jeff Jones' appearance to celebrate senior night, Old Dominion went out of Chartway Arena with an emotional 75-59 win over Coastal Carolina on Saturday night.
"I felt like we had this in us the whole year,” Williams said. “We came up short a lot. But today, we just kept our foot on the gas. We didn’t give up at all."
The night started out with Jones making his first appearance at Chartway Arena for a game since he suffered a heart attack during the Monarchs' trip to Hawaii in December. He's spent the last two months recovering and undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.
With plenty of emotion in the building, Jones shared hugs with seniors Williams and Jason Wade before embracing his staff and the remainder of the team.
Jones left the game after giving Wade and Williams their framed jerseys, adhering to doctor's orders.
"It was good to see him,” said interim head coach Kieran Donohue. “I thought he looked good. I think it was very hard for him out there. I give him a lot of credit. Jeff’s a tough guy, and I think it was probably not the easiest thing to walk into this arena tonight. I’m just happy for him that he was able to participate in that."
"It meant that he really cared for us," Williams said. "He was pretty emotional himself. It was great to get the win for him."
The night had just gotten started for the transfer out of Oregon. He scored the team's first 13 points, posting 17 in the first half. Williams' critical three-pointer with 13:32 left in the second half gave ODU a lead it would never surrender the rest of the game.
He capped the night off with a pair of triples and a vicious slam in the final three minutes, with the dunk bringing out a visceral roar from the Chartway Arena crowd.
"I'm screaming and I'm thinking I'm screaming loud, but I couldn't ever hear myself scream," Williams said. "It was rowdy."
"(Senior night) is an interesting night. Sometimes some really cool things happen," Donohue said. "For Ty to have his college career-high, certainly his ODU high, on senior night is really special. That's something I'm sure he will cherish for the rest of his life."
Williams showed off in front of his 11-month old son Chase, who was making just his second appearance at an ODU game.
"It was a surprise, I didn't think he was going to be here," Williams said. "He was there the first game of the season."
Devin Ceaser posted 14 points and five steals while RJ Blakney scored eight in the win. The Dayton transfer's layup with 8:01 to play helped start a 24-10 closing run for the Monarchs after the Chanticleers trimmed the lead down to 51-49.
With the victory ODU (7-22) breaks out of a six-game skid heading into its final two road games of the season.
"I felt like we had this in us the whole year," Williams said. "We came up short a lot but today we just kept our foot on the gas. We didn't give up at all."
"Our guys have hung in there and they've continued to battle and continued to compete," Donohue said. "For them to walk out of here for the last time of the season smiling and happy and exuberant is just outstanding for them. It's outstanding for all of us."
