Feb. 28, 2009
BOSTON, MA-- The Old Dominion University Monarchs (20-9/12-6) grabbed the fourth seed fornext week's CAA Championships with a 57-54 overtime win at Northeastern Saturday evening.Gerald Lee led ODU with 17 points and FrankHassell added 10 points and a game high sevenrebounds. ODU will get the first round bye andplay the winner of the Hofstra-UNCW game on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the Richmond Coliseum.
Northeastern took a 50-47 lead with 23 seconds left in regulation on a three-pointerby Matt Janning, but with 11 seconds left, ODU senior Jonathon Adams tied the gamewith his own trey to send it to overtime, tied at 50.
With the game tied at 54, Jonathan Adams again came up big with two free throwsto put the Monarchs up, 56-54 with 43 seconds left. After a missed NU shot, GeraldLee hit one-fo-two free throws to give the Monarchs a 57-54 led with 16 seconds left. Jonathan Adams who hit the game winning trey earlier in the week againstWilliam and Mary finished with nine points on the night.
Northeastern's Matt Janning's trey missed, they got the rebound but turned it overwith one second left.
The victory was ODU's fourth 20-win season in the last five years under headcoach Blaine Taylor.
Although NU outrebounded the Monarchs, ODU came up with nine steals, led by sophomore Ben Finney with a game high four. He ranks among the CAA leaders inthat category at 1.5 per game. Sophomore Darius James scored seven points and dished out a game high five assists for ODU.
The Monarchs shot .480 (23-47) from the floor, while the Huskies were held to.400 (22-55). Matt Janning scored only 11 points, while Nkem Ojougboh led theHuskies with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Head coach Blaine Taylor is now just two wins shy of 300 for his career.
CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP The pairings are set for the 2009 CAA Men's Basketball Championship, which will be held March 6-9 at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Va.
First-round tournament action tips off on Friday, March 6 as #8 Georgia State (11-19, 8-10 in CAA) meets #9 Delaware (13-18, 6-12 in CAA) at Noon, followed by #5 Hofstra (20-10, 11-7 in CAA) against #12 UNC Wilmington (7-24, 3-15 in CAA) at 2:30 p.m. In the night session, #7 James Madison (18-13, 9-9 in CAA) takes on #10 William and Mary (10-19, 5-13 in CAA) at 6 p.m., followed by #6 Drexel (15-13, 10-8 in CAA) versus #11 Towson (10-21, 5-13 in CAA) at 8:30 p.m.
In the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 7, #1 VCU (21-9, 14-4 in CAA) faces the Georgia State/Delaware winner at Noon, followed by #4 Old Dominion (20-9, 12-6 in CAA) against the Hofstra/UNCW winner at 2:30 p.m. In the night session, #2 George Mason (20-9, 13-5 in CAA) meets the JMU/William & Mary winner at 6 p.m., followed by #3 Northeastern (18-11, 12-6 in CAA) against the Drexel/Towson winner at 8:30 p.m.
The semifinal contests will take place at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 8 and the CAA men's basketball championship game is set for 7 p.m. on Monday, March 9.Tickets are $21 per session and $70 for a tournament book that includes all 11 games. Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000.