Jan. 13, 2010
WILMINGTON, N.C. - Junior Frank Hassell recorded a double-double that included a career-high tying 15 rebounds and senior Gerald Lee led four Monarchs in double-figures with 16 points as the Old Dominion men's basketball team picked up a 70-52 road win at UNC Wilmington Wednesday evening.
Old Dominion has now won four straight games and seven of its last eight. The nation's fifth ranked defense didn't allow a UNCW player to score in double figures.
Lee missed a double-double by one rebound as he hit for a game-high 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Hassell grabbed 14 of his 15 rebounds in the second half to go along with 10 points.
Junior's Darius James and Ben Finney joined Lee and Hassell in double-figures with 10 points a piece.
The Monarchs improve to 13-5 overall and remain tied for first in the Colonial Athletic Association with a 5-1 league record. The Seahawks fall to 6-10 on the year and 2-4 in the CAA.
ODU broke open an early tie with an 11-0 run to take a 20-9 lead midway through the first half. During the run, the Monarchs held UNCW without a field goal for nearly seven minutes.
The Seahawks struggled to stop Lee, who tallied 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the opening stanza of play. ODU also got significant contributions from Marsharee Neely, who got the start in his home state and delivered six points in the first half.
UNCW battled back though, in large part to their free throw shooting (11-of-14). An Ahmad Grant three-point field goal with just under a minute before the intermission cut ODU's lead to 32-30. A pair of free throws from Lee would send the Monarchs into the break up by four.
Old Dominion came out of the half hot, scoring on its first four possession to push the lead to 42-34 three minutes in, but the Seahawks responded with a 6-0 run of their own to get to within two (42-40).
Down by a bucket and with the ball, UNCW turned the ball over and Neely hit a cutting Ben Finney for a thunderous jam that sparked a Monarch run that would seal the victory.
After the Finney jam, Neely drilled a three and James hit a fast-break floater to give ODU a 49-40 lead with 12:23 remaining.
An alley-oop dunk from Dominique Lacy stopped the Monarch run for the moment, but ODU continued to roll and the lead was pushed back into double-digits (53-42) after a pair of free throws from junior Keyon Carter.
The Monarchs attempted 13 second half free throws with sophomore Kent Bazemore making four and Carter making three to push ODU's lead to as many as 22.
After being outrebounded in the fist half, ODU ended the game with a 45-35 edge on the boards. Hassell, who has pulled down 29 rebounds in his last two outings, tied his career-high of 15 rebounds which he set in last seasons CIT Championship win over Bradley.
The Monarchs held the Seahawks to 29.6 shooting in the second half (8 of 27) and scored 21 points off of 17 UNCW turnovers.
ODU leads the all-time series, 26-17, and the Monarchs are the only team in the CAA with a winning record at Trask Coliseum (11-8).
Old Dominion returns home to take on Drexel on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. The Monarchs have won 17 straight home contests and own the nations eighth longest home winning streak.
-ODU-