Feb. 23, 2008
NORFOLK, VA--Sophomore center Gerald Lee scored 20 points and hauled down seven rebounds to help lead Old Dominion (16-13) to a 65-55 win over Bucknell(11-16) Saturday night in a Bracketbuster game. The crowd of 8,022 was the fifthover 8,000 people in the Constant Convocation Center, this season.
ODU led by as many as nine in the second half (36-27 with 17:30 left), but the Bisonrallied to take a 45-43 lead with 6:17 left on a three-pointer by Justin Castleberry.ODU freshman Darius James tied the game at 45 with a driving lay up at the 5:58 mark.
After a Bucknell turnover, Jonathan Adams scored, then Brandon Johnson pickedup one of his three steals on the night and fed Frank Hassell on a layup to givethe Monarchs a six point lead, 51-45 with 3:46 left. ODU would score threemore points to take a nine point lead at 54-45 with 2:11 left, before the Bisonwould break ODU's 11-0 run with a layup by GW Boon.
Joining Lee in double figures was freshman Frank Hassell with ten points andeight rebounds, while Brian Henderson scored ten and dished out five assists.
Brandon Johnson, ranked seventh nationally in steals dished out five assists onthe night. The three steals give him 226 for his career which rank him second all-time at ODU and tied for sixth all-time in CAA history with Bashir Mason (Drexel 2004-07).
The Monarchs outrebounded Bucknell, 34-27 and forced the Bison into 13turnovers, while committing only eight. This is the third time in the last eight games,ODU has committed less than ten turnovers.
Bucknell shot .460 (23-50) from the floor, while ODU hit .480 (24-50) fromthe floor. Bucknell was led in scoring by John Griffin with 19 points, while Darren Mastropaolo Led the Bison in rebounding with nine.
In other CAA Bracketbuster games, VCU, James Madison, Towson, Delaware, Hofstra all won their games.
The Monarchs are now 3-0 in Bracketbuster contests. ODU returns to actionWednesday night when they return to CAA play against Northeastern at 7 p.m.in the Constant Center. It will be senior night for Brandon Johnson, BrianHenderson, Sam Harris and Abdi Lidonde.