Missouri State 79, Old Dominion 67
NORFOLK, Va. -- Guard Marcus Marshall scored 14 of his 18 points down the second-half stretch and in overtime as the Missouri State Bears rallied past the Old Dominion Monarchs 79-67 on Friday night at the Constant Center in the season opener for both schools.
Marshall scored just four points over the opening 31 minutes, but heated up after a 19-7 Monarchs run turned a 43-39 deficit into a 58-50 Old Dominion lead. The Bears sophomore scored all 10 of his second-half points over the final 8:35 of regulation, including two on a pair of free throws with 1:01 left that sent the game into overtime tied at 63.
The Bears dominated the extra period, outscoring the Monarchs 16-4.
Guard Aaron Bacote, who finished with a career-high 28 points, nailed a three-pointer with 3:43 left in regulation points in the second half to give Old Dominion a four-point lead. But the Monarchs scored just six points the rest of the way and didn't have another field goal until Bacote buried a garbage-time trey with 1.3 left in overtime.
Bacote's previous career high was 20 points.
Forward Jamar Gulley also scored 18 points and freshman guard Austin Ruder added 14 points for the Bears. Forward Richard Ross scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and guard Dimitri Batten added 12 points for the Monarchs.
The Monarchs trailed by seven on two occasions and were down four six minutes into the second half before seizing their eight-point advantage with 6:57 left.
The Monarchs had two chances to regain the lead in the final minute after Marshall's game-tying free throws, but Batten missed a short runner with 22.5 seconds left, then saw his 70-footer at the regulation buzzer fall just short.
