B.J. Stith scored 15 points on Saturday to lead the Monarchs. (Photo by: Bob Bradlee)
TOWSON, MD. – In the 30th all-time meeting between between ODU and Towson and first ever for the Monarchs at SECU Arena, the Old Dominion men’s basketball team (5-2, 0-0 C-USA) took down the Tigers (4-4, 0-0 CAA) by a 60-58 score on Saturday afternoon. B.J. Stith paced the Monarchs with a game-high 15 points to go along with four rebounds.
With 2:55 remaining in regulation, Towson tied the contest, 52-52, before B.J. Stith drilled a three-pointer as the shot-clock expired to give ODU a 57-54 lead with 2:10 to play. After two made TU free-throws with 30 seconds left, Ahmad Caver went to the line and connected on the second of two to extend ODU’s lead to 58-56.
B.J. Stith sealed the deal at the free-throw line for ODU with two more free-throws to give Old Dominion a 60-56 lead with 4.5 seconds remaining, before Towson made a layup as time expired. B.J. Stith is now a perfect 19-19 from the charity stripe for the season.
Brandan Stith chipped in 13 points, six rebounds and six blocked shots. Also in double-figures for ODU was Ahmad Caver, who poured in 12 points, dished out four assists and hauled down three rebounds. Denzell Taylor stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, a game-high 11 rebounds, four assists, three steals and one block.
Old Dominion’s defense held the Tigers to 37.7% (23-61) shooting from the floor for the game and 21.4% (3-14) from deep.
The Monarchs connected on 48% shooting from the floor, 40% from three-point range and 86% from the free-throw line to claim its largest lead of the first half, 32-25. Denzell Taylor led all scorers and rebounders in the first half with seven points and nine rebounds. The Tigers scored seven points in the opening two minutes of the contest, before ODU held Towson to just 18 points in the remaining 18 minutes.
In the opening 90 seconds of the second half, the Tigers utilized a 7-0 run to tie the ballgame at 32-32. Old Dominion responded with an 18-9 run to possess a 50-41 advantage at the 10:40 mark. Towson fired back with an 11-0 run to take a 52-50 lead with six minutes to play.
The Monarchs will remain on the road and be right back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at No. 21 Rhode Island. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. EST.
