NORFOLK, Va. - Jordan Skyers led the Norfolk State men's basketball team (2-2) with 19 points in a 71-60 loss to Old Dominion (4-0) on Wednesday night at Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall.
Norfolk State trailed by 20 points, 52-32, with 12:42 remaining in the second half, but fought back to cut the deficit to six, 58-52, with 5:48 left in the game.
How it Happened
- It was a back-and-forth battle to start the game, as neither team led by more than six points in the first 14 minutes of the game.
- After Norfolk State took its only lead of the game on two made free throws by J.C. Riley Jr., ODU went on an 8-0 run to take a 19-13 lead with 6:16 left in the first half.
- Skyers and Bahsil Laster scored six points apiece in the first half, but the Monarchs led 36-24 at halftime.
- The Spartans cut the deficit to 11 at the 18:03 mark in the second half before Old Dominion went on a 11-2 run to extend its lead to 52-32.
- Keon Mitchell converted an and-one layup to spark a Norfolk State 20-6 run, bringing the Spartans within six points.
- The Spartans trailed 66-60 after a Laster and-one layup with 55 seconds left, but the Monarchs scored the final five points of the game to secure the victory.
Inside the Numbers
- Jordan Skyers recorded his second game with six steals this season. He became the first Spartan to record two six-steal games in the same season since Chakowby Hicks in 2005. Skyers added six rebounds and three assists.
- Bahsil Laster recorded his fourth double-digit scoring game of the season with 17 points, shooting 11-of-13 (84.6%) from the free throw line.
- The Spartans posted their best free throw shooting performance of the season, converting 24-of-29 attempts (82.8%). Laster and Skyers combined for 18 made free throws.
Coach's Comments
"Once again, another hard-fought Old Dominion-Norfolk State battle," said head coach
Robert Jones. "Seems like these games always come down to the final couple minutes. I know we had to foul a little bit, so the score got stretched. Outside of the exact final score, pretty much a single-digit game. They went up 20, and we came back and we walked it down. So that's the theme, like a lot of times, because even last year they went up double figures, and we walked it back down a little bit. Great game, good atmosphere and good crowd."
On
Jordan Skyers: "Jordan shows why he's a four star player. He showed why he was one of the best shooting guards in the country coming out of high school. The problem with Jordan is that people see the 19 points, six rebounds, and six steals. Amazing stat line for a freshman in a pressure pack game. He's probably hands down the favorite for Rookie of the Year in the conference. He's the best freshman in the conference, but the thing that people don't see is that the gambles sometimes on defense that hurts you, like in critical moments, a missed box out, and those are things that he's learning on the fly as a freshman. Once he learns those things, he's a really lights out player. Right now he's really aggressive offensively, and you can see I'm running stuff for him to be aggressive offensively. But he has to learn some of the other nuances of the game that he's probably been allowed to get away with as a high school kid, as one of the best kids in the country. Everybody here has some kind of accolade. Everybody you play against has some kind of accolade. He's going to be good for us, man."
ODU Head Coach Mike Jones' Comments on the Spartans
"I want to give a shout out to Coach Rob Jones. His team is not healthy. His team is going to be one heck of a team when he gets all those bodies back," ODU head coach Mike Jones said. "I know he knows that, but you gotta give them credit. We got them down 20 and it looked like we were going to be able to just walk away and the pride that program has, the pride that he has and the fight in his team. You can't do anything, but tip your hat to them for fighting all the way back. So shout out to them."
Up Next
Norfolk State will travel to Atlanta for two games, opening the road trip against Georgia State on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 1 p.m. at the GSU Convocation Center.
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