Men's Basketball Wills Way to 58-57 Win at Old Dominion

NORFOLK, Va.—In a rugged back-and-forth game that featured 13 lead changes, Central Michigan outlasted Old Dominion to register a 58-57 men's basketball victory Saturday afternoon at ODU's Chartway Arena. The MAC-SBC Challenge victory helped CMU improve to 14-10 overall, while Old Dominion drops to 6-19 overall.

The Chippewas finish a successful 2-1 over its three-game road swing and now plays three of its next four games at home. Central Michigan won its ninth contest in its last 11 and 11^th in its last 15 games.

In a game where neither team shot the ball well, Central Michigan held Old Dominion to 35 percent shooting (21-60), including 30 percent in the second half. The Chippewas were led by Jemal Davis, who scored a career-high 19 points on a career-high 11 of 13 free throws in 27 minutes off the bench. Derrick Butler scored all 13 of his points in the first half and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds, and Aidan Rubio scored 10 points off the bench.

Markus Harding and Paul McMillan IV did not make the trip to Virginia.

"As banged up as we were coming into the road stretch, I was saying if we could somehow get through it with a 1-2 record, that's stealing," Central Michigan Head Coach Tony Barbee said. "The fact that we went 2-1 on this road swing, that's a huge deal for us coming out of this."

"We fought defensively. At the end of the day, it's the will to win that matters. This group has a collective will to win. So, when we were battling, we were deflecting, and we got the stops when it mattered today."

The game came down to one final Old Dominion possession after CMU stole the ball and missed a one-and-one free throw with 17 seconds to play. ODU's Jason Wade grabbed the rebound and the host Monarchs missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

With 4:26 to play, Central Michigan took the lead for good when Anthony Pritchard drove the lane and hit a short jumper to give the Chippewas the lead. A minute later, Rubio swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a five-point lead (56-51) with 2:55 to go. But Old Dominion wasn't finished. The Monarchs responded with two baskets by Tyrone Williams, a dunk and layup. CMU's Brian Taylor pushed CMU's lead back to three with a jumper and ODU's RJ Blakney hit a layup to trim CMU's lead to 58-57 with 27 seconds to play.

That set up the final possession.

Central Michigan took its first lead early in the game with an 8-0 run. The Chippewas used back-to-back 3-pointers by Derrick Butler and Aidan Rubio, and a 3-point play by Jemal Davis to go up 19-13 lead with 11:12 to go in the first half.

"We're not real good offensively right now. We are getting good looks, we just aren't stepping up and making shots," Barbee said. "Jemal is finding it. That's why he had 11 last game and 19 today. He's starting to understand when you concentrate on the fight, the offense comes to you."

Old Dominion took a 27-23 lead on a 3-pointer with Blakney, but the two teams finished the first half tied at 29-29.

Old Dominion was led by Chaunce Jenkins' 16 points, Williams scored 12, and Blakney finished with 12.

Central Michigan now takes a week off before it hosts the much-anticipated Toilet Paper Toss on Saturday, Feb. 17 with a matchup against rival Western Michigan at McGuirk Arena. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. next Saturday. Tickets are still available for the event.

—CMU—

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Team Stats

Jemal Davis

Derrick Butler

Aidan Rubio

Anthony Pritchard

Players Mentioned

Derrick Butler

Jemal Davis

Markus Harding

Paul McMillan IV

Anthony Pritchard

Aidan Rubio

Brian Taylor