Old Dominion turns up defense, gets road victory at George Mason
Old Dominion coach Jeff Jones said his team played defensively Saturday night as well as it has all season, and the result showed it.
C.J. Keyser scored 19 points for ODU, which went ahead early in the second half, survived a prolonged offensive drought and won 60-50 over George Mason at EagleBank Arena.
The Monarchs held the Patriots without a field goal for more than nine minutes early in the second half.
“You can have the perfect game plan, but if they’re not out their busting their rear ends, it’s not going to work,” Jones told odusports.com. “Our guys worked. We really got after it.”
Jaylin Hunter had 16 points for the Monarchs (4-5), who had lost four of their lost five games. Mekhi Long added 11 points and nine rebounds, while Kalu Ezikpe had 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Devon Cooper had 15 points for the Patriots (4-5), whose losing streak stretched to five games. Josh Oduro added 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Jamal Hartwell II had 10 points.
The Monarchs sank just 38% of their field goals (19 of 50), but they held the Patriots to 32.7% (17 of 52), including 21.4% (6 of 28) from 3-point territory.
ODU went ahead 13-4, but George Mason scored the next 10 points to go ahead. The score remained close before the Patriots led 26-25 at halftime.
The Monarchs outscored the Patriots 13-1 by holding George Mason without a field goal for 9 minutes and 15 seconds. A basket by Long gave the Monarchs a 42-29 lead with 11:21 to go.
ODU then had a fruitless stretch on offense, and GMU cut its deficit to 50-45 with 2:07 left on two Cooper free throws. But a Keyser
jumper at the 1:37 mark sent ODU off to its first victory on an opponent’s court this season.
“It was our first road win and came against a great Atlantic 10 team,” Keyser said. “We needed this win to build some momentum.”