Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. – Charleston Southern built a six-point halftime lead and put itself in position for the first national postseason win in school history but Old Dominion held on for a 65-56 victory in the first round of the NIT at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on Wednesday.
CSU (19-12, 13-5 Big South) earned a bid to the National Invitation Tournament thanks to its second Big South regular season championship in three years, and gave top-seeded Old Dominion (25-7, 13-5 Conference USA) all it could handle and more. The Bucs led 33-27 at halftime and were in front 43-38 with 12:45 remaining following one of Saah Nimley's six three-pointers. The Monarchs' Ambrose Mosley responded with three straight threes, though, and ODU improved to 18-0 at home before a raucous crowd of nearly 5,000 fans.
Nimley delivered another sensational performance for CSU and led all scorers with 27 points. His sixth and final trey came from deep on the left wing with a hand in his face and cut the Old Dominion lead to 58-56 with 2:21 left. Mosley buried a three following an offensive rebound on ODU's ensuing possession and the Monarchs kept CSU off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
CSU head coach Barclay Radebaugh and his team expected to win, and put forth a valiant effort against a top seed in the NIT for the second time in three years.
"Old Dominion's a terrific team and made big plays when they needed to, particularly defensively in the second half," Radebaugh said afterward. "That said, I thought our guys played as well as they were capable of playing. We put every single ounce of our energy, emotion and intellect on the court. We gave all we had. I've been proud of this group all year long and am incredibly proud tonight. It was a really hostile environment against a team that's been in the Top-25 and we were up by five in the second half. We wanted to win this game and expected to win this game so you have to give credit to a really quality Old Dominion team."
Nimley scored CSU's first six points, started 3-of-3 three from downtown, and connected on back-to-back triples to stake the Bucs to a 43-38 advantage. The latter three came from at least 27 feet out in transition, forced an Old Dominion timeout and prompted a rare show of emotion from Nimley. It was the 17th time this season and 39th time in his career that Nimley has scored 20 or more points. Will Saunders added 13 points, and Arlon Harper chipped in nine and helped limit C-USA Newcomer of the Year Trey Freeman to 5-of-14 shooting.
Jonathan Arledge paced ODU with a double-double of 22 points and ten rebounds. Arledge grabbed five offensive rebounds and Denzell Taylor had six as Old Dominion posted a 19-10 edge on the offensive glass. Mosley finished with 15 points and five timely triples. The Bucs made Freeman work for his points, but the Campbell transfer tallied a triple-double overall with 14 points, 11 rebounds and ten assists.
Old Dominion jumped out to a 10-3 lead and held Charleston Southern without a field goal until Saunders sailed through a three at the 13:21 mark of the opening half. CSU missed its first four shots from the field and committed three turnovers but six Nimley free throws kept the Bucs in the game.
ODU had their way on the offensive glass in a big way in the early going but could not take full advantage and shot only 32 percent from the field in the first half.
CSU hit seven straight shots, including five in a row from beyond the arc, to rattle off a 19-8 run and take a 30-25 lead with 4:30 left in the opening stanza. Nimley started the spurt of sizzling shooting with a three, Saunders followed with one of his own and Harper made a pull-up jumper to pull the Bucs even at 19 apiece. Nimley then vaulted CSU in front to stay in the first half with another trey that accounted for a 22-19 advantage.
Nimley pumped in another three with the shot clock dwindling, before Harper capped the barrage with a corner trey off a feed from Gombwer. CSU hit 7-of-12 overall from downtown in the first half, with Gombwer's top of the key three sending the Bucs into intermission on top 33-27.
Old Dominion entered the night 10th nationally in scoring defense and turned up its defensive intensity to hold CSU to 23 percent shooting, including just a 4-of-19 clip from three, in the second half. The Monarchs stormed out of halftime with seven straight points to surge ahead, as Arledge sandwiched a pair of inside scores around a Jordan Baker three.
The lead would change hands four times over the ensuing minutes until Mosley's triple with 10:25 left sent Old Dominion in front for good. Nimley and Gombwer had threes fall off the mark with CSU behind 61-56 with inside a minute to play, and two Arledge free throws following a foul helped seal the outcome for ODU.
Paul Gombwer corralled a team-high nine rebounds for CSU and moved into 5th place on the Bucs' all-time rebounding chart. Fourth-year seniors Nimley, Harper, Gombwer, and Cedrick Bowen, with 70 victories, finished their careers as the second winningest class in school history.
"This senior class is special," Radebaugh said. "Their very first game, they led Kansas State by 14 points at halftime. We beat Ole Miss this year, we won two regular season conference championships, been to the NIT twice. They've been amazing. They've been incredible for our program and will be remembered as the best class in school history. They've been great ambassadors both for Charleston Southern University and the Big South Conference. I'm really thankful to have coached this group."
