Adams' last-second 3-pointer wins ODU the game

CHARLOTTE

Everybody was itching to take the shot.

Ben Finney said he'd hit it. So did Darius James.

Jonathan Adams hadn't taken a 3-pointer all night, but as the Old Dominion men's basketball team broke the huddle in the waning seconds Sunday, the squad's only senior was confident too.

"I got the next one," Adams told his teammates. "I'll make it."

Four passes later, Adams let fly a rainbow 3-pointer that tickled the net with 5.5 seconds remaining to give the Monarchs a scintillating season-opening 69-68 victory over Charlotte at Halton Arena.

Adams' game-winner - his first in an Old Dominion uniform - capped a stunning comeback in which the Monarchs rallied from a seven-point deficit in the final four minutes. ODU trailed by four points with 23.4 seconds left.

Finney, though, nailed a 3-pointer, then found Adams open at the top of the key on the Monarchs' final possession.

"Ben did a great job of setting me up, and I turned and shot it," said Adams, who finished with five points. "I had been struggling all night, and coach (Blaine Taylor) was telling me to get rid of the ball, and I made sure I got rid of it."

Adams rescued Old Dominion on a night when the Monarchs flexed their muscle inside and showed their depth but at times also displayed the inexperience of a team with 10 underclassmen.

ODU finished with a 39-23 rebounding edge, while Finney, James and Gerald Lee scored 15 points each and five players made at least one 3-pointer.

The Monarchs committed 18 turnovers and squandered a 10-point second-half lead.

"Our guys believe they're good basketball players but many of them haven't played as many games as some other people," Taylor said.

"We just kept fighting and were very resilient, trying to give ourselves a chance at the end of the game."

Old Dominion's front court, led by Lee, Adams, Keyon Carter and Frank Hassell, was steady throughout. Lee pulled down nine rebounds and Carter yanked down eight before fouling out with 2:16 left.

The 49ers (1-1) managed just five offensive rebounds all night, and no Charlotte player finished with more than four boards.

"We knew they had a lot of big bodies and they do a good job," Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said. "We knew we were in for a battle."

The Monarchs' perimeter players had their moments, too.

ODU made 6 of 10 3-pointers in the first half, and Marsharee Neely, Finney and James buried 3s in the closing two minutes to help the Monarchs seize momentum heading into the break.

The Monarchs stretched their lead to 38-28 on the opening possession of the second half.

But Charlotte began to climb back after Lee went to the bench with his third foul two minutes in.

The 49ers made 16 of 17 free throws in the second half, and a pair by DiJuan Harris gave them a 67-63 edge with 23.4 seconds remaining.

Finney responded with a 3-pointer from the right wing, and Harris made 1 of 2 free throws on the ensuing possession, setting up Adams' game-winner.

Adams in-bounded the ball and circled to the top of the key. Four crisp passes, and he had the ball and a split second to shoot it.

"I knew he was going to make it," James said. "He called it."

Jami Frankenberry, (757) 446-2295, jami.frankenberry@pilotonline.com