Jan. 31, 2009
NORFOLK, VA-- Junior forward Gerald Lee scored 23 points and sophomore forward Ben Finney added 18 points with five rebounds to lead Old Dominion (13-8/6-5) to a 73-71 victory over George Mason (15-6/8-3) in front of a sold out crowd of 8,424 at the Constant Center.
The Patriots took a 69-68 lead with 3:48 left on a Cam Long jumper. Gerald Lee then put ODu up for good with two free throws with 2:30 left, 70-69. After a Patriot miss, Frank Hassell hit a jumper with 1:35 remaining to give ODU a 72-69 lead.
Ryan Pearson cut the lead to one after a Marsharee Neely missed free throw, 72-71. The Monarchs missed another free throw, but John Vaughan missed a trey. With 4.7 seconds left Marsharee Neely, who scored 12 tonight hit one of two free throws to make it, 73-71. Cam Long's jumper at the buzzer missed to end the game.
The 23 points by Lee was his second straight this week. ODU finished the night shooting .569 (29-51) from the floor, while George Mason hit .582 (32-55). Mason outrebounded ODU, 25-24. The Monarchs committed only eight turnovers, while Mason had just nine.
Lee hit nine- of-11 shots from the floor, while Finney was seven-of-nine from the floor. For Mason, Darryl Monroe was five-of-seven, Ryan Pearson was eight-of-10, and Cam Long was six-for-10 from the floor.
Sophomore Darius James led with eight assists on the night along with two steals and only one turnover. Darryl Monroe led mason with seven assists. John Vaughan scored six points and led the Patriots with seven rebounds.
The sellout crowd was the first of the season and the 11th since the building opened in 2002-03. It was the third home crowd over 7,000 this seaso. ODU is averaging 6,577 in 12 home games thus far this season.
At halftime, ODU alumni and former team captains were honored.
ODU hosts Towson Tuesday night at 7 p.m. In other CAA games today, VCU beat Hofstra, 66-62; Northeastern beat Delaware, 73-59; Drexel beat Towson, 60-53, Georgia State beat W&M, 58-51 and James Madison defeated UNCW, 79-73.