Ahmad Caver scored 18 points on Saturday.
DENTON, Texas – Ahmad Caver (five rebounds and four assists) and Zoran Talley (six rebounds and three assists) each scored 18 points to lead the Old Dominion men’s basketball team (13-8, 6-3 C-USA) over North Texas (6-15, 0-9 C-USA) by a 73-67 score on Saturday afternoon at the Super Pit.
Also in double-figures for the Monarchs were Trey Porter (five rebounds and career-high four blocks) and B.J. Stith (four rebounds), who each scored 10 points.
“Anytime you can win a conference game on the road is big,” said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. “This one wasn’t pretty but our guys kept hanging in there throughout the course of the game. We never really could get much separation until right at the end. We had some guys step up and make some big plays. We rode [Zoran] Talley almost the whole afternoon at the offensive end. I thought Ahmad Caver did a terrific job playing the entire 40 minutes, he made some big shots and free-throws. This certainly wasn’t an easy win and we didn’t expect it to be an easy win, but we are very happy with the result.”
A Randy Haynes dunk followed by a B.J. Stith dunk tied this contest at 41-41 with 12:47 remaining in regulation. Ahmad caver’s fifth three of the game, followed by a Trey Porter lay-in gave Old Dominion a 61-56 advantage with 4:30 to play.
B.J. Stith made a layup, before Zoran Talley hit a floater to give ODU a 65-62 lead at the 1:27 mark. After exchanging free-throws, Old Dominion led 67-64 with 22.6 showing on the game-clock, followed by a defensive stop and two Caver free-throws to seal the deal in Denton on Saturday.
In all, there were 10 lead changes and nine ties. Jordan Baker finished with eight points and two rebounds, while Randy Haynes chipped in seven points.
The Monarchs possessed a three-point lead at halftime, 30-27, behind 12 points from Zoran Talley.
NEXT UP FOR THE MONARCHS
Old Dominion will return home next week to host Florida International on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday, Feb. 4, the Monarchs will welcome Florida Atlantic to the Ted Constant Convocation Center for a 7:00 p.m. tipoff, which will mark Alumni Night for Old Dominion. Both games will air on C-USA TV.
