NORFOLK, Va. (ODUSports.com) - After trailing by as many as 14 with 8:37 left in the first half, the Old Dominion men’s basketball team (7-3, 3-1 C-USA) outscored Florida Atlantic (5-6, 0-2 C-USA) 38-26 in the second half to claim a 64-55 victory on Saturday night at Chartway Arena.
“This was a good win after a slow start for us,” said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. “FAU punched us in the face out of the gates. We just hung in there for a while. A.J. hit those three-pointers and then we became much more aggressive as opposed to just reacting to FAU.”
The Monarchs trailed the Owls, 31-26, with 19:24 to play in the second half, but ODU ended the game on a 38-24 run, while the Monarchs defense held FAU scoreless for 4:30 during that span.
ODU was led by A.J. Oliver II’s 17 points (6-6 FT), four rebounds and two steals. Also in double-figures for Old Dominion were Joe Reece (14 points and nine rebounds) and Malik Curry (10 points, four steals and two assists).
For the game, Old Dominion held advantages for points off turnovers (20-3) and steals (13-5). ODU connected on 80% (16-20) of its free throws in the second half, while holding Florida Atlantic to 34.6% (9-26) shooting from the floor and 23.1% (3-13) shooting from deep in the closing 20 minutes.
The Monarchs trailed by three, 29-26, at halftime. ODU was led by Oliver II’s 13 points and Curry’s eight in opening 20 minutes.
Old Dominion will be back in action on Friday, Jan. 15, when the Monarchs travel Houston, Texas to take on Rice for a 3:00 p.m. EST tip on ESPN+.
