Charleston 51, Old Dominion 44
NORFOLK, Va. -- Guards Anthony Stitt and Canyon Barry hit big 3-pointers to quell a pair of Old Dominion mini-runs as Charleston held off the Monarchs 51-44 Wednesday night at Constant Center.
Forward Willis Hall scored 14 points to lead the Cougars (5-6) to their third victory in four games. The Monarchs, meanwhile, dropped their sixth straight after winning four of their first five. It was also Old Dominion's lowest point total of the season. The previous low was 48 in a 21-point loss at VCU on Dec. 8.
Hall opened the second half with a four-point play to give the Cougars their largest lead at 27-18. Both teams traded missed shots and turnovers from there, but the Monarchs slowly chipped away at their deficit and got to within one at 33-32 on guard Dimitri Batten's 3-pointer. But the Monarchs killed their momentum by turning it over on their next two possessions, and the Cougars nudged back in front by six.
A runner by guard Keenan Palmore and a layup from guard Aaron Bacote got the Monarchs within two at 39-37, but Stitt buried a 3-pointer with 3:14 left to make it a five-point game. When it was back to a one-possession game with less than two minutes left, a tip-in by forward Anthony Thomas boosted the Cougars' lead to 44-39.
The Monarchs got to within three again inside the final minute, but Barry, the youngest son of NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry, nailed a 3-pointer with two seconds left on the shot clock to put Old Dominion down for good.
Bacote scored 13 points to lead the Monarchs, who shot just 31.4 percent from the field and missed nine of their 10 3-point attempts.
Charleston capitalized on a massive Old Dominion scoring drought to seize a 23-18 halftime lead.
A floater by guard Keenan Palmore with 14:05 left put Old Dominion ahead 10-2, but the Monarchs then went eight minutes without another field goal while the Cougars slowly pieced together a 14-2 run.
Thomas' layup with 8:33 left finally got Charleston even at 12, and two free throws by Hall produced the Cougars' first lead at 14-12.
The Monarchs' only points during Charleston's surge came on two free throws by Bacote. Old Dominion's field-goal drought didn't end until Batten made a layup with 4:58 left before halftime.
Hall scored eight first-half points to lead the Cougars, who committed turnovers on four of their first six possessions and seven on their initial 14. However, Charleston had just one turnover over the final nine minutes of the half.
Bacote scored six first-half points to lead the Monarchs, who made just 7 of 23 field goal attempts and were 0-for-6 from 3-point range before the break.
NOTES: The Monarchs, who left the Colonial Athletic Association for Conference USA in July, are in the midst of stretch of eight straight games against past or present CAA teams. Charleston is in its first year in the Colonial. ... The Cougars defeated the Monarchs 76-65 in Charleston last season in the teams' only prior meeting. ... Old Dominion began play shooting 55.7 percent from the free-throw line, a figure that ranked 343rd out of 345 Division I schools. The Monarchs made 11 of 19 on Wednesday.
