Dec. 22, 2008
NORFOLK, VA--Gerald Lee, this week's CAA Player of the Week scored 16 points and hauled Down nine rebounds and Ben Finned added 14 points (13 in the second half) to lead the Monarchs of Old Dominion (7-3) to a 66-56 win over the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore Monday night. It is the Monarchs sixth straight win of the season, after starting 1-3.
Ten of the 11 Monarchs who played scored tonight. The Monarchs also forced UMES into22 turnovers with a season high 15 steals. Ben Finney led with a career high five, while Gerald Lee, Kent Bazemore, Marsharee Neely and Jonathan Adams had two each.Four Monarchs hauled in atleast seven rebounds. After Lee's team high nine, Finney and Kent Bazemore had eight each and Keyon Carter seven. The Monarchs, who rank third in the CAA in rebound margin (7.0) outrebounded the Hawks, 44-34.
The Monarchs led most of the first half, but a jumper from Neal Pitt tied the score at 22 with 5:28 left. ODU then finished the half on a 13-4 run to take a 35-26 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Monarchs led by 14,43-29with 16:08 left and 13, 54-41 with 8:12 left after a Frank Hassell layup. UMES cut the Monarch lead to six at 60-54 with 2:43 left on a three-pointer by Neal Pitt. ODU's final points came from the free throw line as Darius James hit two and Ben Finney finished with four.
James dished out a career high seven assists and for the third time this year played the entire game without committing a turnover. ODU also blocked a season high 12 shots led by Keyon Carter with four and Gerald Lee with three.UMES was led by Neal Pitt with 19 points, followed by Keishawn Mayes with 14 points and 14 rebounds. The Monarchs shot .417 (25-60) from the floor to UMES's .362 (21-58).
Earlier in the day, the Colonial Athletic Association named Gerald Lee Player of the Week. Lee averaged 17.5 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting .733 from the floor in a pair of Monarch wins against Duquesne and Winthrop. Lee currently leads the team with a 15.0 point per game average, .600 shooting from the floor and .851 from the free throw line. He is averaging 5.9 rebounds per game. Lee leads the CAA in field goal percentage and ranks third in free throw percentage.
Ben Finney leads the team in rebounding at 6.8 which ranks him seventhin the CAA.
ODU breaks for Christmas before returning on Dec. 30th to host Winston-Salem State at 7 p.m. in the Constant Center.