ODU gets emphatic win ahead of break
NORFOLK — Old Dominion got increasingly precious game experience Tuesday.
A welcome bonus: With it came a healthy dose of confidence.
Austin Trice scored a careerhigh 27 points and the Monarchs dominated an overmatched neighbor in a 77-57 wire-to-wire victory over Virginia Wesleyan at Chartway Arena.
ODU (4-2), playing its final scheduled non-conference game, used a decided height advantage to shoot 58.9% from the field while holding the Marlins (0-1) to 30.2% in their season opener.
Trice, a 6-foot-7 senior forward who transferred from Kansas State, did his damage on 12-of-16
shooting — most of it from the paint — in 27 minutes.
“Austin just played like an absolute bear inside,” Monarchs coach Jeff Jones said. “He knew that there was nobody that could match him physically. They didn’t have shot-blockers, so he didn’t hesitate. He just took it right to the rim.”
Kalu Ezikpe added 15 points for ODU, which made just 2 of 14 from 3-point range and won despite going 9 for 21 from the free-throw line.
The Monarchs led by as many as 24 early in the second half before Virginia Wesleyan mounted a 15-2 run to pull to within 54-43 with 9:22 remaining.
ODU responded with a 9-1 burst to regain control.
Lamont Steward scored 12 points for Virginia Wesleyan, a Division III school in Virginia Beach.
Predictably, the Monarchs won the rebounding battle 51-30. But they’d like to have been even more dominant.
“It feels good to get a win anytime you play,” said senior guard David Strother, who scored five points. “But I still wish we would’ve did stuff better defensively and stuff.”
Trice, doing what Jones said he does best, pulled down 12 rebounds.
The Monarchs will get an extended break before opening the Conference USA portion of the season Jan. 1 at Florida International.
ODU’s players, after discussing it with Jones, elected to remain in Norfolk over the holiday break in an effort to keep the season going during the disruptive COVID-19 pandemic. The Monarchs will have team meals on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
ODU had games against James Madison and George Mason canceled this month due to a COVID presence in those programs. Jones said his players had grown tired of playing against each other in practice as scheduling other teams became tentative due to the pandemic.
The takeaway from Tuesday’s victory, Jones said, was somewhat mixed. The Monarchs had bouts with offensive sloppiness and defensive tardiness, which have been issues of inconsistency at times throughout the season.
“That’s really the thing that we have to address,” Jones said. “It’s not are we capable, but it’s are we capable of doing it over and over and over and over and over? I refer to that as grinding. And again, grinding can get monotonous. Grinding also wins. And we have to learn that lesson.”
The Monarchs took a 43-23 lead – their biggest of the game to that point – after Strother’s outside jumper with 22 seconds left before the break.
Trice scored nine straight ODU points late in the first half on his way to 19 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the period.
The Marlins missed their first nine shots while digging an early 9-0 hole. They didn’t score until nearly five minutes in, when Tyree Golston made a wide-open 3 from the right wing.
In July, Virginia Wesleyan announced that it would follow a recommendation from the Old Dominion Athletic Conference to postpone league competition and championships until Dec. 31.
Tuesday’s game was the school’s lone athletic event of the 2020 fall season. It was the first meeting between the programs, who have met in exhibition games.
The Marlins, who will resume their season at Salisbury University on Jan. 20, returned four starters from a team that went 23-5 last season.
OLD DOMINION 77, VIRGINIA WESLEYAN 57 VIRGINIA WESLEYAN (0-1)
Fisher 2-123-67, Golston 3-100-07, Pelham 1-80-02, Wallace 2-22-38, Steward 4-122-312, White 1-70-03, Showers 2-30-15, Stephens 3-8 0-29, Dargue 1-10-02, Tebay 0-02-22, Cline 0-0 0-00. Totals 19-639-1757.
OLD DOMINION (4-2)
Ezikpe 7-81-215, Reece 5-70-110, Green 3-61-2 7, Hunter 2-51-35, Oliver 2-63-38, Trice 12-163-8 27, Strother 2-60-05, Long 0-20-20, O’Connell 0-00-00, Pilavios 0-00-00, Shanu 0-00-00. Totals 33-569-2177.
Halftime_Old Dominion 43-23. 3-Point Goals_Virginia Wesleyan 10-35(Stephens 3-5, Wallace 2-2, Steward 2-7, Showers 1-2, White 1-5, Golston 1-6, Fisher 0-1, Pelham 0-7), Old Dominion 2-14(Strother 1-4, Oliver 1-5, Green 0-2, Hunter 0-3). Fouled Out_Fisher. Rebounds_Virginia Wesleyan 27(Steward 8), Old Dominion 50(Trice 12). Assists_Virginia Wesleyan 11(Fisher 4), Old Dominion 24(Green 8). Total Fouls_Virginia Wesleyan 20, Old Dominion 19. A_250(8,472).