A crucial 3-pointer from Old Dominion and missed free throws from Texas State led the Monarchs to a 64-61 third-round victory in the Sun Belt Conference Championship on Thursday at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Florida.
Old Dominion (14-19) moves on to face the Appalachian State Mountaineers (17-13) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday while the Bobcats’ chaotic season comes to an end, finishing 16-16 overall.
Old Dominion’s Robert Davis Jr. finished as the game-high scorer with 23 points. He also drained the go-ahead 3-pointer with just one second remaining in the game. Sean Durugordon also contributed heavily to the ODU victory, recording a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double. Durugordon scored eight of the Monarch’s first 11 points of the matchup.
For Texas State, leading scorer Tylan Pope finished with 15 points and added six rebounds. Joshua O’Garro recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds against the Monarchs. Kaden Gumbs chipped in 10 points for the Maroon and Gold, finishing as the team’s number three scorer.
“That was nothing other than an old school Sun Belt [Conference] game right there,” Texas State head coach Terrence Johnson said. “It came down to a couple of plays here and there, and [ODU] did a really good job of making the plays that matter most at the most critical times.”
Within the first five minutes of tip-off, ODU led 11-4 after Durugordon scored two mid-range jumpers, a layup and a 3-pointer.
Eventually, in the opening half of play, the Monarchs increased their lead to 19-7 over the Bobcats following a 4-point play from Durugordon. Texas State responded with a huge scoring run of its own, and with 4:42 left in the first half, Coleton Benson hit a 3-pointer, making the Texas State deficit just one point (24-23).
After a chaotic finish to the half, Texas State headed into halftime with a 29-27 lead after O’Garro knocked down a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining.
The second half was just as close as the first, as the largest lead built was just seven points. After trailing during the first 10 minutes of the final half, Texas State tied the game at 45-45 with 11:57 left to play. With 5:33 remaining in regulation time, the Bobcats extended their lead to six points, 57-51, but the Monarchs were not done just yet.
ODU answered with a 9-2 scoring run over the next two and a half minutes, reclaiming the lead over Texas State, 60-59 with 2:15 remaining. Benson hit a pair of free throws later on to tie the game at 61-61. With one second remaining, ODU’s Davis Jr knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Monarchs a 3-point lead.
“That is a question we are gonna have to ask ourselves when we look over the film,” Johnson said about the ODU game-winner. “He was able to get looks on that particular play because it was a down-screen being set by a cross-screen on the weak-side toss. What typically happens on the weak-side toss is it freezes everyone, and we got frozen.”
Texas State was fortunate enough to get fouled on the inbounds pass and full-court shot attempt by Christian Turner, sending him to the line to potentially tie the game. The senior came up short on the first pair of free throws, forcing him to miss the third and hope for a miracle. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, there was no miracle and the Old Dominion Monarchs were victorious 64-61.
ESPN+ will stream the matchup between the Monarchs and the Mountaineers tonight.
