NORFOLK, Va. – Erik Czumbel had a career-high 16 points but Old Dominion shot over 60 percent to fuel an 83-51 win over UTSA men's basketball on Thursday night at Chartway Arena.
UTSA (7-10, 0-4 Conference USA) couldn't overcome a sluggish offensive night and a hot start from Old Dominion (7-8, 2-0 C-USA), who opened the game with 22 of the first 30 points as the Roadrunners misfired on their first five shots and in 15 of their first 20 efforts.
The Monarchs built a 12-point halftime lead on the strength of a 60 percent shooting first half that saw UTSA held to 28 percent, scored 16 of the first 24 points of the second half and went on a 17-2 run over four minutes to put the game away in a wire-to-wire win.
Czumbel, a native of Verona, Italy, finished with a career-high 16 points, also setting career highs in field goals made (seven) and attempted (11).
Jacob Germany, a native of Kingston, Okla., had 12 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes.
Kansas State transfer Austin Trice led the Monarchs with 19. Clemson transfer A.J. Oliver II finished with four points and five rebounds, and Jaylin Hunter charted 16 points and seven assists.
The Monarchs finished the game shooting 62 percent from the field on 34 of 55 shooting, with assists on 19 buckets. ODU owned a 33-27 margin in rebounds, held UTSA to 39 percent from the field and 1 of 13 from deep.
The Roadrunners will return to action on Saturday, traveling to face Charlotte at 12 p.m. CT at Halton Arena live on ESPN+ and Ticket 760 AM.
The Monarchs opened the game with the first seven points of the game at the first media timeout before Erik Czumbel got UTSA on the board with a drive and lay-in. The ODU lead grew to 10 after a wing 3-pointer from Jaylin Hunter and went to 16-2 with 13:01 left in the first, prompting a timeout from the Roadrunners.
UTSA then ripped off a 6-0 run, getting a basket from Czumbel, a pair at the line from Lachlan Bofinger and a hook shot from Germany. Germany snapped a 6-0 run for the Monarchs with a transition dunk after Darius McNeill's hustle to secure a loose ball on the ground led to a steal.
Czumbel cut the lead to 22-12 and Germany hit four at the line around a ODU bucket to narrow the lead to 26-16. Czumbel had a tough bucket at the rim to cut it to 11 and after a made ODU basket, McNeill found him in the corner on a drive and dish for a 3-pointer, narrowing the lead to 31-21. ODU took the advantage up to 33-21 at the half, led by 15 from Trice and a 60-percent shooting clip.
Bofinger got the scoring started in the second half with a post-move bucket and Lamin Sabally answered a 3-point possession from ODU with a strong take to the rim. After four points from the Monarchs, Bofinger cut the lead to 13 and after an ODU basket, Germany finished a ball off the glass in transition.
ODU responded with a quick 7-0 run to take its first 20-point lead of the game, 49-29 with 15 minutes left, and took the lead to 65-35 with seven minutes remaining to put the game away.
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