NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- It was a game Norfolk State head coach Robert Jones billed as the biggest Division I contest in the history of Echols Hall.
When the dust settled, despite a valiant effort from his young and shorthanded squad, he found his Spartans on the losing end.
Zacch Wiggins scored 16 points to lead four Monarchs in double figures as Old Dominion held off the green and gold, 71-60, Wednesday night on the Spartans' home court. The victory improved the silver and blue to 4-0 for the first time since the 2009-2010 campaign and dropped NSU to 2-2 on the young season.
"There will be a lot of things we can learn from today," ODU head coach Mike Jones said, point out that an opponent's comeback often got the best of his team a season ago. "It's always great to be able to learn a lot of things when you were still able to prevail so we'll take the win and get ready for Longwood."
"This is the first time this year that we showed some fight," Robert Jones said of his Norfolk State group. "Now we've got to bottle those six, seven minutes up. Let's get to 20, let's get to 25, let's get to 40. Then you'll see a big difference."
Old Dominion opened up a 36-24 lead at halftime and continued to widen the gap, finding itself ahead by 20 points with 12:42 remaining in the game. Norfolk State, however, chipped away, using an 11-0 run to cut into its deficit and cut the Monarch lead down to six with less than a minute to go at 66-60.
ODU would have a little too much left at the end for the Spartans to overcome, as the Monarchs took the win, their seventh straight triumph in the series between the two crosstown rivals.
In addition to Wiggins' efforts, Bubu Benjamin, Zamoku Weluche-Ume and Jothan Nweke added 10 points apiece.
Norfolk State freshman guard Jordan Skyers poured in a game-high 19 points and came away with six steals, while Bahsil Laster chipped in 17 points.
Rebounding was one of the biggest differences in the game, as the Monarchs held a 33-18 advantage on the boards.
The match-up was the first between the two schools on Norfolk State's campus since December of 2020 when the rivals met in front of a COVID-reduced crowd of approximately 200 fans. Prior to that meeting, Old Dominion and NSU had not met on the Spartans' home court since December of 1972. Of the 23 meetings between the crosstown foes, only five have been true home games for Norfolk State.
Old Dominion returns home for a Saturday match-up with in-state foe Longwood, while Norfolk State hits the road at Atlanta, where Georgia State awaits for a Sunday meeting.
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