PHILADELPHIA — Just when the City of Brotherly Love seemed to be living up to its name for Mike Jones’ Old Dominion Monarchs against Drexel on Sunday, it all unraveled.

After nailing 8 of their first 11 shots from 3-point range while building a six-point lead midway through the second half, suddenly they couldn’t buy a hoop, especially beyond the arc.  That’s how a potential victory turned into an excruciating 75-71 loss, culminating with a disastrous turnover on the final play with a chance to send it into overtime or win it with a 3.

“It was a very physical game and we got a little fatigued at the end,” lamented Jones, whose club dropped its third in the last four games to fall to 3-4. “We’ve got a couple of injuries (leading scorer KC Shaw has missed the last two games, and Drew McKenna played only sparingly) and I think we just ran out of gas.”

The numbers bear that out.  After shooting the lights out for the first 30 minutes while building a 56-50 lead, they couldn’t buy a hoop down the stretch. ODU missed its last eight shots, six behind the arc, and nine of its last 10, managing only free throws in the final 5:28.

Still, after getting a stop, the Monarchs had the ball back with 8.5 seconds left when Jones called time out to set up a play. But whatever he designed never materialized as Caelum Swanton-Rodger’s handoff to LJ Thomas was knocked loose by Drexel. The Dragons’ Kevon Vanderhorst scooped up the ball and went in for the clinching dunk, forcing ODU to wonder what might have been.

“It was in our hands,” said Robert Davis Jr., who scored 15 points, including three treys. “It was supposed to go downhill to LJ. He was open and could either make the read to get it to overtime or get it to me or Jordan (Battle) for a 3. But they just blew up the play.

“I feel we fought and didn’t lay down when they made their run. Then once they got up, we didn’t waver. So in my mind we took a step forward today, contrary to popular belief. We’ll definitely learn from this moment.”

Leading scorer Battle (21 points and nine rebounds) says they learned something else, too.

“I wouldn’t say they adjusted well, but we got a little complacent,” said Battle, who helped keep ODU afloat in the first half after Drexel had built a 25-15 lead. “We were feeling we were going to win and let up.

“We should’ve taken it to them the whole game. I think we need to learn how to close out games. We got a little stagnant at the end. “

Now they’ll hang around town for a couple of days before heading into the suburbs to face Big East power Villanova on Tuesday. It will be an emotional night for many of them, since 7-foot big man Swanton-Rodger played for Villanova first-year coach Kevin Willard when they were at Maryland, while assistant Odell Hodge will be going against his son, Matt.

Jones, too, has his own Villanova memory.

“The biggest game of my career was against Villanova,” said Jones, referring to ODU’s 89-81 three-overtime upset of the No. 3-seeded Wildcats in Albany, New York, in the 1995 NCAA Tournament. “So it’ll definitely be special.”

Not only that, but another chance to see if the City of Brotherly Love can live up to its name for the Monarchs.

https://www.dailypress.com/2025/11/23/old-dominion-mens-drought-proves-costly-as-drexel-rallies/