Feb. 21, 2009
NORFOLK, VA-- Gerald Lee scored 26 points and BenFinney added 19 to lead the Monarchs (18-9) to an80-56 ESPNU BracketBusters win over Liberty (20-9) Saturday morning. The Monarchshave won seven of their last eight games.
ODU led by two, 36-34 at halftime led by Lee with 12 and Finney with eight.Seth Curryled Liberty with 17. In the second half, ODU held the Flames to just 22 pointson 8-for-29 shooting (.276) and ODU hit .731 (19-26) from the floor.
For the game, the Monarchs hit .618 (34-55) from the floor while Liberty shot.345(20-58). The Monarchs dominated the boards, 36-24 led by Lee with seven, Finneyand Keyon Carter with six each and guard Darius James with five.
James dished out nine assists and came up with two steals, while Ben Finney dished out six assists which was one shy of his career best. Keyon Carter also dished out five assists, while freshman Kent Bazemore led ODUwith three steals.
Gerald Lee becomes the 44th Monarch to reach the 1,000 career point mark. The 26 points puts him right at 1,000 career points. The victory was ODU's 600th as a division I program since the 1976-77 season. The Monarchs are 600-408.
ODU is now 4-0 in Bracketbuster games and 3-0 when they are on TV.
Liberty was led by the nation's top scoring freshman, Seth Curry with 24 points.Curry set a new Liberty school mark with 38 consecutive free throws after goingtwo-for-two today. Anthony Smith added 14 points for the Flames.
ODU hosts W&M Wednesday night. That will be senior night for Jonathan Adams.The contest will also be televised on WSKY4 in Hampton Roads.