Old Dominion Bests Gardner-Webb In Paradise Jam Finale
November 24, 2014 | Men's Basketball
ST. THOMAS, US Virgin Islands --- Old Dominion outscored Gardner-Webb by a 30-20 margin in the second half, and held the Runnin' Bulldogs to under 30 percent from the floor en route to a 58-46 win in the consolation game of the 15th annual Ezybonds Global Payments US Virgin Islands Paradise Jam on Monday evening.
Old Dominion (4-1) shot 39 percent from the floor on the night, including a 41 percent clip in the first half, while holding Gardner-Webb (2-3) to a field goal percentage of 29.1 percent in the contest. The Runnin' Bulldogs won the battle on the glass by a 41-36 margin, including a 12-7 advantage on the offensive boards, as the Monarchs outscored Gardner-Webb in the paint, 22-12.
Jerome Hill (Adel, Ga.) paced Gardner-Webb with a double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds. Adonis Burbage (Orlando, Fla.) added 10 points with a 3-for-6 night from downtown as Tyrell Nelson (Charlotte, N.C.) and Jarvis Davis (Columbia, S.C.) each grabbed six boards.
Trey Freeman led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting for Old Dominion, as Richard Ross added 12 points and seven rebounds. Jordan Baker chipped in six points while Keenan Palmore and Ambrose Mosley each tallied five points.
Gardner-Webb seized the early momentum, opening the first half with a 12-4 run that was capped by a rebound and put back by Nelson at the 12:40 mark. The Monarchs fought back, trimming the margin to one on a Ross jumper that finished off a 9-2 spurt and cut the lead to 14-13 with 8:34 to go.
Old Dominion kept pushing, taking its first lead of the game on a layup by Ebondo and stretching the advantage to six before Gardner-Webb responded with back-to-back buckets, trimming the margin to 25-23 following a nifty up-and-under move from Davis at the 3:14 mark. After Ivey knocked down a trey and ODU answered with a Ross lay-in, the Monarchs closed out the first half with a Palmore free throw to take a 28-26 lead into the intermission.
The Monarchs carried the momentum into the second half, pushing the lead to 38-29 with an 8-0 run that was capped by a trey from Baker with 13:46 left to play. Gardner-Webb fought back, closing the gap to 40-35 with back-to-back treys from Burbage and Poston, the second of which coming with 11:31 remaining on the clock.
The Runnin' Bulldogs would cut the lead to four with on a trey by Burbage at the 4:26 mark before Old Dominion responded, pulling away with a 10-0 run and a superb effort on the defensive end down the stretch to seal the 58-46 victory.
Gardner-Webb returns to the court on Saturday, hosting NCAA Division II Brevard College in its home opener at 2:00 pm in Paul Porter Arena. The game will air live on the Big South Network.
