In a hard fought contest Old Dominion (1-0) defeated James Madison (0-1) 62-55 in both teams’ 2016-17 season opener. Despite a shaky night on offense, the Monarchs played lockdown defense throughout the night in front of a rowdy home crowd of 8,241.
This wasn’t your normal home opener as ODU went up against a veteran bunch from the Colonial Athletic Association. The Dukes returned four starters from last year’s team that went 21-11 and they are picked to finish fifth in their conference this season.
“By playing a close game, it was much better than if we had played a weaker opponent and won by 20 or 30,” ODU head coach Jeff Jones said.