Nov. 28, 2009
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas -- Despite getting 20 points from senior Gerald Lee, the Old Dominion men's basketball team fell, 69-55, to Mississippi State in the Monarchs final game of the South Padre Island Invitational Saturday evening.
ODU (4-2) solved its turnover problem from a night ago, but MSU's three-point shooting dug the Monarchs another early hole. Mississippi State (4-2) shot 46.2 percent from beyond the arc in the opening half to build an eight-point halftime lead that it would never relinquish.
Lee, who was selected to the All-Tournament team, put forth his second 20-point effort of the season on 9-of-15 shooting. Junior Ben Finney scored 10 points and pulled down a team-high six rebounds for the Monarchs.
Sophomore guard Dee Bost scored a game-high 25 points, including six three-point field goals, to lead the Bulldogs. Senior forward Jarvis Varnado tallied 13 of his 15 points in the first half.
The Monarchs led early 10-9, but a 21-8 Bulldogs run would put MSU up 30-18. ODU scored 28 first half points with 14 coming from Lee.
Just like a night ago, Old Dominion would not go away quietly. After the Bulldogs upped their lead to 11 (46-35) in the second half, the Monarchs went on a 12-4 run to trail by only three with 11 minutes remaining in the contest.
ODU would get no closer though. Down 50-47, the Monarchs went scoreless for nearly a nine minutes stretch and MSU increased its lead to as many as 14 points.
Old Dominion will next be in action on Wednesday, Dec. 2 at Richmond. The Spiders also competed at the South Padre Island Invitational and will take on Missouri in the championship matchup after knocking off Mississippi State on Friday.
-ODU-