March 23, 2009
NORFOLK, VA-- ODU senior Jonathan Adams hit twothree-point field goals in the last two minutesas the Monarchs defeated the Belmont (20-13), 70-62 and advance to the semi-finals of the Collegeinsider.com Post Season Tournament.ODU (23-10) will meet CAA rival James Madison Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Constant Center.
Adams finished with 12 points, all in the second half.He hit a jumper with 3:28 left gave ODU the lead for good at 59-58. He thenhit a trey to put ODU up 62-58 and with 1:03 left hit a trey to put ODU upsix, 67-61. Adams then hit a free throw, followed by two more free throws byBen Finney to put the game out of reach for the final score of 70-62.
Gerald Lee led ODU with 14 points along with seven rebounds, three assists andthree steals. Ben Finney finished with four points, four assists and nine reboundsalong with three steals.
Frank Hassell got his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 boards, and the third of his career.
ODU dominated the boards, 49-38. Ben Finney hauled in nine rebounds, followed byLee with seven, then Darius James and Marsharee Neely with five each.
ODU shot .382 (26-68) from the floor, while Belmont hit .367 (22-60). TheBriuns ranked third nationally in three-points. They were 12-38 (316) from beyondthe arch, while ODU who missed its first 11 finished 5-20 (.250).
Belmont was led by Andy Wicke, the Atlantic Sun Player of the Year with 14 pointsand three steals. Mick Hedgepeth finished with 10 points and nine boards off thebench. Alex Renfroe led all players with eight assists.
The semi-final game with JMU is Thursday because of a Richard Dreyfus speakingengagement on Wednesday at the Ted.
The Monarchs last reached a post season national semi-final game in 2006 whenthey advanced to Madison Square Garden in the NIT. Jonathan Adams is the onlyplayer in the nation to have played in all four post season events, The NCAA,the NIT, the CBI and now the CIT.