ODU men’s basketball loses in OT to Middle Tennessee

Old Dominion junior guard Trey Freeman (Virginia Beach, VA.) scored a game high 18 points and sophomore forward Denzell Taylor (Ontario, Canada) added 12 points, but the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee defeated the Monarchs, 68-58 in overtime in a Conference USA match-up. ODU drops to 15-3 overall and 4-2 in C-USA, while Middle Tennessee is 11-8 overall and 4-2 in C-USA.

The Monarchs trailed by 10 early in the second half, 40-30 with 17:34 left, but fought back to tie the game at 50-50 on a jumper by Freeman with two minutes left. Middle Tennesseee’s Reggie Upshaw put the Raiders up 52-50 with a jumper, and  Freeman pulled ODU to within one, at 52-51 with a free throw with 37 seconds remaining.

After an ODU defensive stop, graduate student Jonathan Arledge nailed a three-pointer to put the Monarchs up 54-52 with 20 seconds left. After a MTSU timeout, Jacob Ivory tied the game, 54-54  for MT with a driving layup and  send the contest to overtime with nine seconds left. Arledge’s jumper from the left baseline as time ran out missed.

In the overtime, MTSU outscored the Monarchs 14-4 led by Giddy Potts with four points for the Blue Raiders. It was ODU’s second overtime of the season, having beaten Georgia State, 58-54 at the Constant Center on Dec. 17.

MTSU had four players in double figures led by Jacob Ivory with 12points, followed by Darnell Harris and Giddy Potts with 11 each and JaQuawn Richmond scored 10.

The Monarchs shot .361 (22-61) from the floor, while MTSU shot .455 (20-44). The Blue Raiders outrebounded ODU, 37-36 as JaQuel Richmond hauled down nine rebounds. ODU was led by Denzell Taylor with seven followed by Arledge and sophomore guard Ambrose Mosley (Jacksonville, FL.) with five each.

ODU junior guard Aaron Bacote (Hampton, VA.) with five assists, while Jonathan Arledge blocked two shots. The Monarchs also came up with eight steals on the night led by Mosley with three and Taylor with two.

The Monarchs travel to Birmingham, AL to play at UAB Saturday at 5:30 ET in another nationally televised game by American Sports Network, and will be shown in the Hampton Roads area on WTVZ channel 33 (over the air) and on channel 2 on Cox.