ODU赢得了美国联盟常规赛篮球冠军与大量的心脏，勇气和决心
March 01, 2019
By Harry Minium
无论本赛季剩下的时间发生什么，老自治领的篮球队都将进入一场高质量的季后赛.
周四晚上，帝王队以65-64击败德克萨斯-圣安东尼奥队，保证他们将在三月份跳舞，夺得自2013-2014年加入这个遥不可及的联盟以来的第一个美国常规赛冠军. ODU hadn't won a regular-season title since 2010, when the Monarchs were in the Colonial Athletic Association.
There was no cutting down the nets, and there won't be a trophy, 但这次胜利让ODU C-USA自动获得了参加全国邀请赛的资格.
ODU(23胜6负)仍然可以通过赢得在旧金山举行的美国联盟锦标赛而晋级NCAA锦标赛, Texas, March 13-16. 但如果他们在那里绊到脚趾，他们无论如何都会进入季后赛.
Thursday's game, televised nationally by the CBS Sports Network, was a physical, defensive battle that was not a thing of beauty. As is often the case with UTSA, this one came down to the final seconds.
格林(Xavier Green)得到14分，两罚一中得到8分.4 seconds left to give ODU a 65-62 lead. 马刺队的吉夫万·杰克逊没有投三分，而是在禁区内投篮命中了一个两分球 .9 seconds left. ODU inbounded the ball and ran out the clock.
ODU often had long streaks without scoring, and the Monarchs made just 6 of 12 foul shots in the second half.
"It wasn't easy. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. It was ugly as heck," coach Jeff Jones said. "But we kept telling them to stick together, stick together. Don't get frustrated.
“有时他们快要沮丧了，但他们坚持了下来."
帝王队在上个月以73 - 74输给UTSA的比赛中获得了一定程度的报复, 当他们失去了18分的领先优势，在最后9秒投丢了3个球. Take away that loss and ODU would have a 13-game winning streak. ODU had lost in all three previous trips to UTSA.
"I knew UTSA had a great team," Jones said. "But I felt good about our team. 我没有感觉到我们上一场比赛的任何后遗症，我们的队员们都很兴奋地来到这里，振作起来，在这座大楼里再次获得机会.
“但我们的球员今晚真的很想赢得常规赛冠军, and maybe they were a little bit tight."
This has been a roller-coaster year for ODU. In October, the players learned that Jones' prostate cancer, for which he'd had surgery a few years ago, had returned.
它已经被治疗所控制，琼斯仍然带着一如既往的精力和激情执教. But players acknowledge it was a tough day when Jones told them.
"He's worked just as hard this year as he has in all my four years here. Maybe even harder," said guard Ahmad Caver, who had 13 points.
If anything, Jones' condition seemed to bring the team closer together, even if that wasn't evident at the start.
ODU lost three of its first five games, 包括在一场中立场地的比赛中，海狸队以56比51的比分输给了俄勒冈州立大学，在比赛的最后几分钟，海狸队以14比2的比分击败了君主队. 一场胜利将推动ODU与其他Power 5球队进行比赛，并可能提高其赛程的强度.
But then ODU began to jell. 11月下旬，帝王队在上半场落后17分的情况下反超劲敌VCU. In December, they rallied to upset then-No. 25 Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.
一月份，对阵西肯塔基大学的比赛似乎是一场灾难, in which the Hilltoppers took a 21-0 lead. The Monarchs kept their cool, rallied and won by three points.
And ODU is unbeaten in February.
帝王队一直在激烈的比赛中赢得胜利，在炮火下保持冷静. 他们经常用坚韧不拔的防守来弥补投篮失误，而且在需要的时候，他们似乎总是能投进关键球.
然而，尽管ACC对阵雪城的比赛令人失望，ODU在赛程上的实力却缺乏分量. 根据大多数计算机排名，它排在第一类的后半部分. If there are upsets in Power 5 tournaments, which is sure to happen, 如果他们不能赢得C-USA锦标赛，君主队很可能会被排除在NCAA锦标赛之外.
而NIT投标应该被认为是衡量任何中型大型项目成功的标准, it's clear the Monarchs want more.
"It's great to win the regular season," said B.J. Stith, who led ODU with 16 points. "But coming into this season, that wasn't our main goal."
帝王队将于周三主场迎战南方小姐队，这是他们的最后一场主场比赛，下周六将在UAB结束常规赛.
Southern Miss will be the final home game for Stith and Caver, seniors who have been at ODU for four seasons, and for Elbert Robinson III, the 7-1 transfer from LSU who has played a limited, but key, role for a team that needed help inside.
ODU已经连续赢了7场比赛，在过去的13场比赛中赢了12场，在过去的24场比赛中赢了21场. 如果帝王队赢得最后两场常规赛，并在C-USA锦标赛中击败几支球队, they could play their way onto the NCAA tournament bubble.
琼斯说，他的球队唯一可能的途径是赢得比赛，进入联赛决赛, and that's all they're focused on.
"That's a whole lot of ifs," he said. "Let's hope we can be in that situation and see what happens.
"I think what a lot of people in the media write is irrelevant. It's up to the people on the NCAA tournament committee. 委员会成员决定一切，不管人们写什么或说什么.
“我们能影响他们的唯一方法就是不断获胜，努力让他们的工作变得困难. Or we can make their job easy and fall.
"I'd prefer to make their job hard."
A little history of ODU's regular-season titles
ODU's first regular-season basketball title came 50 years ago, when Sonny Allen and his fast-break, high-scoring Monarchs won the Mason-Dixon League.
The Monarchs went on to win the 1969 league tournament, beating Baltimore in the final, and earn their first berth into the NCAA Division II tournament, where they lost to Oglethorpe and Norfolk State at NSU's Gill Gymnasium.
Thursday's title was the 12th regular-season crown for ODU, 如果你算上在ECAC-South的两年，球队是根据实力排名而不是战绩排名的. Prior to 1962, ODU was an independent.
ODU's 12 regular-season titles:
MASON DIXON CONFERENCE (Division II)
1968-1969 (21-7), coach Sonny Allen, beat Baltimore in final; lost to Oglethorpe, Norfolk State in NCAA Division II tournament
ECAC SOUTH (Division I)
联盟没有真正的循环赛赛程，但ODU是头号种子两次
1979-80 (25-5), coach Paul Webb, beat Navy in ECAC final; lost to UCLA in NCAA
1980-81 (18-10), coach Paul Webb, lost to Richmond in ECAC final; lost to Georgia in NIT
SUN BELT CONFERENCE (Division I)
1982-83 (19-10), coach Paul Webb, lost to ECU in Sun Belt final; beat VCU, lost to Notre Dame in NIT
1985-86 (23-8), coach Tom Young, lost to Jacksonville in Sun Belt final; beat W.Va., lost to Duke in NCAA
COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION (Division I)
1992-93 (21-8) coach Oliver Purnell, lost to ECU in ECAC tournament; beat VCU, lost to Miami-Ohio in NIT
1993-94 (21-10) coach Oliver Purnell, lost to JMU in CAA final; beat Manhattan, lost to Bradley in NIT
1994-95 (21-12), coach Jeff Capel, beat JMU in CAA final; beat Villanova, lost to Tulsa in NCAA
1996-97 (22-11), coach Jeff Capel, beat JMU in CAA final; lost to New Mexico in NCAA
2004-05 (28-6), coach Blaine Taylor, beat VCU in CAA final; lost to Michigan State in NCAA
2009-10 (27-9), coach Blaine Taylor, beat W&M in CAA final; beat Notre Dame, lost to Baylor in NCAA
CONFERENCE USA (Division I)
2018-2019 (23-6), coach Jeff Jones; postseason record TBA.
前ODU体育信息总监卡罗尔·哈德森提供的统计数据
