Feb. 2, 2008
NORFOLK, Va. -- The Monarchs used a well-balanced and unselfish attack to put away Georgia State (6-15/3-8), 73-50, in CAA action Saturday afternoon. ODU improves to (11-12/6-5) on the year with the win. Four Monarchs were in double-figure scoring and, as a team, ODU had assists on 20 of the 27 made field goals in the game. Freshman Ben Finney led the team in scoring and rebounding with 14 points and 7 rebounds in the game.
The Monarchs shot their second best percentage on the year, going 55.1% from the field on 27-of-49 shooting. The sharp shooting came from outside as well, as ODU hit 9-of-17 three-pointers (.529). They also shared the ball extremely well in the game, getting 20 assists in a game for the fourth time this season.
Old Dominion powered their way to a 19-point lead at the half behind solid play close to the basket as ODU's 20 points in the paint for the half matched the entire output of the Panthers offense in the period.
The half was back-and-forth for the first 14 minutes, finding the teams were knotted up at 17 with 7:16 remaining. The rest of the half, though, was dominated by the Monarchs as they went on a 22-3 run for the halftime score of 39-20. The run was punctuated by a pair of back-to-back dunks in the waning minutes of the half that put ODU up 20. Frank Hassell received an alley-oop pass from Brian Henderson and Gerald Lee followed with a jam off an assist from Darius James.
ODU was led by freshman Ben Finney in the half, with nine points and five rebounds. Henderson also had nine points in the first, going 3-for-3 from outside the arc.
The Monarchs shot 56.0% from the field on 14-of-25 shooting, including a 5-for-10 effort from 3-point range. Georgia State shot just 30.4% from the field in the first on 7-of-23 shooting.
In the second, ODU managed to maintain at least a 20-point lead for the majority of the second half, with Georgia State getting as close as 17-down with 18:20 remaining. The Monarchs would extend the lead from there to as much as 27 with 4:33 remaining.
Finney led the team in both scoring and rebounding for the game with 14 points and seven rebounds. Frank Hassell matched a career high with 10 points. The well-balanced attack saw all but one Monarch score in the ball game with Finney, Hassell, Lee and Henderson all in double-figures.
Senior Brandon Johnson added two steals to his career total, giving him 209, just three behind former teammate Drew Williamson for second all-time for ODU. Johnson added seven assists, four points and four rebounds in the game.
Leonard Mendez led Georgia State with 14 points and Michael Moynihan added 10, all in the second half. The Panthers shot just 27.8% in the game on 15-of-54 shooting and were just 5-of-18 from outside (.278).
ODU returns to the court on Wednesday, February 6 as they travel to Boston to face Northeastern (8-12/4-6) with the tip set for 7:00 pm. The team returns home a week from Saturday as they host George Mason at 4:00 pm in Colonial action.