Monarchs’ defense shuts down Middle Tennessee

NORFOLK — Old Dominion’s defense was top-notch for most of Friday night at Chartway Arena, and the Monarchs survived a Middle Tennessee comeback to defeat the Blue Raiders 67-61 in the first of a two-game series.

Kalu Ezikpe recorded 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Malik Curry had 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals for ODU (13-6, 9-4 Conference USA). Jaylin Hunter added 10 points, three rebounds and three steals. The Monarchs have won four of their past five games.

Ten minutes in, the game was tied at 14. ODU then outscored Middle Tennessee 18-4 to close the first half, taking a 32-18 halftime edge. That surge began with 12 consecutive points.

A 6-0 run, capped by an Austin Trice layup, gave the Monarchs their biggest lead, 51-31. The Blue Raiders got hot late in the game and closed the gap to 65-61 with 23 seconds to go, but an Ezikpe layup at the 10-second mark closed the scoring.

All eight Monarchs who got in the game scored.

Jo’Vontae Millner-Criss had 17 points and seven rebounds for the Blue Raiders (5-14, 3-10). Jordan Davis added 10 points.

“We are very happy to get the win,” Monarchs coach Jeff Jones said on odusports.com. “We didn’t play great, but we played well enough. We had some guys that I thought really competed hard for us. Moving forward, we must all remain on the same page and hopefully play at a higher level. Middle Tennessee pushed us and we had to work for this win tonight. We will need to be better tomorrow night.”

The teams met again Saturday night.