Missed opportunities prove costly for ODU

By Ed Miller

The Virginian-Pilot

NORFOLK

Old Dominion's offensive limitations are many. Its bench and margin for error are thin. And by the standards of mid-major Division I basketball, its roster is vertically challenged.

All those shortcomings were magnified Wednesday night in the Monarchs' sixth straight loss, a grinding 51-44 defeat to the College of Charleston at the Constant Center.

ODU (4-7) shot a season-low 31.4 percent, struggling to get decent looks at the basket. The team's lack of size was highlighted by a pair of Cougar big men who combined to block seven shots and alter several others. The Monarchs' bench shot 0 for 6 on a night when an offensive spark was badly needed.

Despite all that, ODU once again had its chances, cutting a nine- point second-half deficit to one. But a handful of missed opportunities and lapses down the stretch led to a familiar result.

"A little bit like a broken record," coach Jeff Jones said. "We've been in these situations before, where the guys kind of gut it out, fight back to put ourselves in a position where we've got a chance, but we're not able to finish."

Gut it out. Grind it out. ODU did both. But cruel statistical twists sent them to another loss.

The Cougars grabbed just nine offensive rebounds to ODU's 17, but three of them came in the final 5:06 and led to eight points.

"Those second-chance opportunities, those are backbreakers," Jones said.

Charleston's Anthony Stitt shot 2 for 11, but hit a 3-pointer that pushed the Cougars' lead to five with 3:14 left. After ODU cut it to three with 1:15 remaining, Charleston's Canyon Barry, who had not scored, drained a 3-pointer late in the shot clock that made it 47-41 with 41 seconds left.

"Those are daggers," ODU guard Aaron Bacote said.

The Monarchs, meanwhile, never found an offensive flow. The imposing presence of 7-foot-2 David Wishon and 6-9 Adjehi Baru accounted for some of that. The big men took up space on the inside and hedged on ball screens, preventing ODU's players from turning the corner and getting to the rim.

The frustration mounted.

"The time goes down, you're not scoring, the other team is scoring, it's just draining," Bacote said.

Charleston (5-6) had only marginally more success, shooting 37 percent. But the Cougars hit 13 of 14 free throws and had an insurance policy in Wishon and Baru on the defensive end.

Bacote cited one play as an example, when 6-1 Ambrose Mosley drove for what appeared to be an uncontested layup.

"Then all of a sudden a big 6-9 arm just pins it against the glass," he said.

Charleston coach Doug Wojcik praised his team's defensive effort and its resourcefulness in the final minutes.

"I thought we sucked the air out of them there, and then we let them come back in ..." he said. "We kind of withstood and found a way."

ODU is still looking for one. The loss was the Monarchs' third by seven points or less. They lost another game in overtime.

Jones said he hopes the team can learn from the close losses, but he said the best way to develop late-game confidence is to experience success.

"It's a long season, and we've got to be committed to one another," he said. "One way or another, we're going to fight through this thing together.

"It's not a whole lot of fun right now."

Ed Miller, 757-446-2372,[email protected]