Old Dominion walked off the court after a 64-57 win over Florida International Thursday night in a tie for third place in Conference USA.
A couple hours later, when the final score of the night had come in from El Paso, Tex., the Monarchs had moved into a tie for second, with Alabama-Birmingham and Louisiana Tech.
The C-USA race is tightening, everywhere but the top, where unbeaten Middle Tennessee (20-3, 10-0) has distanced itself and is threatening to run away from the pack.
ODU (14-8, 7-3) plays at Middle Tennessee Thursday. First, the Monarchs will try to take care of business Saturday against another one the league’s lower-tier teams, Florida Atlantic.