ODU (21-6, 11-3 C-USA) never trailed Charlotte (6-19, 3-11 C-USA) in a 73-60 win on Saturday afternoon at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in front of 7,283 fans. With the victory, ODU secures the No. 1 seed and a two-game lead entering Conference USA’s new bonus play schedule, which will be announced later tonight.
Old Dominion has now won five straight, 10 of its last 11 and 19 of its last 22 games. On Saturday, the Monarchs led by as many as 24 with 10:24 to play in the second half.
“This was a good win,” said ODU head coach Jeff Jones. “Our fans saw our team ready to go today. We did a good job getting out of the gates. Our defense was really good. The bigger goal in front of us now is to finish as regular season champs.”
Ahmad Caver led all scorers with 20 points, to go along with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. B.J. Stith followed with 17 points, three rebounds and two steals. Xavier Green finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Old Dominion outrebounded the 49ers 35-25 for the contest. ODU held a 15-6 advantage for assists. The Monarchs defense held Charlotte to 39.1% (18-46) shooting from the floor and 23.5% (4-17) shooting from three-point range for the ballgame.
ODU claimed a 42-27 lead at the half, behind a half-high 13 points from Caver, followed by 11 points from Stith. Old Dominion held advantages for points in the paint (17-8), rebounds (16-8), assists (10-2) and fast-break points (9-2) in the opening 20 minutes.
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