Ohio (13-12 overall, 7-5 Mid-American Conference) falls 78-72 in a down-to-the-wire game against Old Dominion (8-17 overall, 4-8 Sun Belt) to close out the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge, despite a strong performance from senior guard Ajay Sheldon.
Ohio arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, on the heels of a two-game win streak to take on Old Dominion in the second half of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge on Saturday night. This game would mark the final non-conference matchup for the Bobcats, and they looked to capitalize and keep their momentum rolling.
The Monarchs were first on the scoreboard with a dunk, but Ohio immediately responded with a 5-0 run that included a 3-pointer from senior guard Ajay Sheldon and a bucket from redshirt junior forward Javan Simmons. Sheldon followed Old Dominion’s score with another 3-pointer, which gave him a quick six points and Ohio an 8-4 advantage.
Ohio continued to pressure the Monarchs with some offensive paint touches for Simmons, who hit a jumper from the elbow, but then he was replaced by redshirt senior Jalen Breath, who was immediately found under the basket for a layup, and Ohio remained out front by a score of 12-6.
The Monarchs kept trying to force the ball into the paint, but Ohio crashed the ball once it got inside and forced a handful of early misses and a couple of turnovers. This pace was exactly what the Bobcats needed as they continued to find success down low with Breath getting another three layups on passes from Sheldon and senior guard Jackson Paveletzke to give him eight consecutive points for Ohio, and an 18-9 lead.
Old Dominion responded with an 11-2 run after finally slowing down the Bobcats and seeing a couple of shots fall, including a pair of layups from forward Caelum Swanton-Rodger and a four-point play by guard Scottie Hubbard to tie the game at 20.
The Bobcats ended the run on another 3-pointer from Sheldon to give him 11 points. He was one of only three Ohio players to score in the opening 12 minutes.
Sheldon continued his hot start with another bucket, but Old Dominion started to get hot, making four of five shots to go on another quick run and put Ohio in a 30-27 hole. The Monarchs started to stretch out their offense on this run, and started four of five from beyond the arc in this game, which was much better than Ohio’s three for 10 with only three minutes to play in the first half.
The final few minutes of the first half saw both teams go through a bit of a cold stretch, and whichever team could get something rolling would take all the momentum into the locker room at halftime with them.
The Monarchs were the team to take advantage with a layup and a pair of free throws to go up 36-29, but Ohio did not go away. Paveletzke found senior forward Aidan Hadaway for a long two-point jumper in the left corner to silence the crowd. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, the crowd was right back to their feet after a thunderous dunk from Old Dominion guard KC Shaw.
Ohio kept fighting to cut into the lead and did well to keep the deficit small, heading into halftime trailing the Monarchs 40-35. Ohio brought the solid shooting from the Western Michigan game on Tuesday, but needed to make a few more 3-pointers to cut into the lead in the second period.
Both teams looked to take control of this game, and that meant trying to slow the pace down, but neither was very successful as the Old Dominion lead remained stagnant as both teams drew fouls and turned the ball over. With just over 12 minutes to play in the half, Sheldon hit his third 3-pointer of the game, the Monarchs responded with one of their own, and the lead was 54-51 in favor of the home team.
Old Dominion looked to hold its lead, but it could not contain Sheldon, who hit a three-pointer out of the media timeout to give Ohio a 55-54 edge. The clock continued to tick as the squads went back and forth until the Monarchs erupted for five points in quick succession to go up 61-56 with only eight minutes to play.
After a step-back jumper from Paveletzke, Swanton-Rodger converted an and-one for Old Dominion, followed by another bucket for the Monarchs to put them up 66-59. The Bobcats responded as Paveletzke kept facilitating, this time finding Kelly for another 3-pointer.
Up 69-64, Old Dominion guard LJ Thomas drew a foul on Hadaway that would foul him out with five minutes to go, a crucial loss for Ohio. Despite losing a key player, the Bobcats kept fighting, and who else but Sheldon supplied another 3-pointer to cut the lead to two and give him 19 on the night.
The Monarchs worked the clock down, and Thomas stepped to the line with a chance to ice the game away with only 42 seconds left, and he would hit the pair. Ohio would finish the game scoreless over nearly the last three and a half minutes and fall to Old Dominion 78-72.
