NORFOLK, Va. - The Old Dominion men’s basketball team (5-3) downed James Madison (6-4) by a 67-42 score on Saturday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. The Monarchs allowed just 11 points in the opening half, which tied a school record set back in 1982 against VMI. “We came to play tonight,” said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. “Our defense was outstanding and a lot of different guys contributed. This is a tough stretch of games for us and we have to remain focused. We have another big game against William & Mary on Wednesday night.” ODU led by as many as 30 with 6:20 to play in the second half. The Monarchs led for 38:42 of the possible 40 minutes, while the game was tied for 1:18; the Dukes never held a lead on Saturday night.
B.J. Stith paced Old Dominion with 28 points, eight rebounds, one assist and one steal. Ahmad Caver went for 25 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals. For the contest, the Monarchs defense held James Madison to 28.8% (15-52) shooting from the floor and 21.4% (3-14) shooting from deep. For the game, ODU held advantages for points off turnovers (16-2), assists (16-6), rebounds (42-33), fast break points (10-2), bench points (10-2), blocked shots (8-0) and second chance points (15-8).
ODU closed the first half on a 12-0 run to claim a 28-11 lead at halftime. Stith paced the Monarchs with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Caver followed with 10 points, four assists and three rebounds. Saturday night marked the 84th meeting between the two schools; ODU now owns a 58-26 advantage in the all-time series.