Jan. 4, 2010
TOWSON, Md. - Four starters reached double figures led by senior Gerald Lee's (Uusikapunki, Finland) 19 points and a career-high 14 points by redshirt sophomore Kent Bazemore (Kelford, N.C.) to return the Old Dominion men's basketball team to the win column with a 87-71 victory over Towson Monday night at the Towson Center.
The Monarchs, who have now won 12 straight against the Tigers and improved to 8-0 all-time at the Towson Center, upped their overall mark to 10-5 overall and 2-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Towson, meanwhile, drops to 3-9 overall and is still searching for its first league win as the Tigers fall to 0-3 in the CAA. Overall, ODU is 21-1 all-time against the Tigers.
The Monarchs led 38-31 at the intermission, but the Tigers came out hot in the second half and made it a two-point ball game, 47-45, with 14:41 remaining. From there however, Old Dominion limited Towson to just a pair of field goals over the next four and half minutes going on a 16-4 run with nearly all of the Monarchs' points coming in the paint. Capping the run was a pair of free throws by Lee from a technical foul assessed to the Tiger bench and Bazemore slamming home the ball when ODU retained possession to give the Monarchs a 63-49 edge at the midway point of the half.
Old Dominion extended its lead to as many as 17, but Towson cut its deficit with a 10-0 run. The Tigers trailed by seven, 71-64, with 5:50 left in the game, but the Monarchs quickly regrouped to go back up by double digits for the rest of the evening.
Joining Lee and Bazemore in double digits were Ben Finney (Portsmouth, Va.) with 17 points and Frank Hassell (Chesapeake, Va.) with 15 points.In addition to his career night in points, Bazemore dished out a career-high eight assists and recorded a career-high four steals.
The Monarchs handily won the battle of boards, 44-23, as Lee, Frank Hassell (Chesapeake, Va.), and Keyon Carter (Riveria Beach, Fla.) all hauled in a team-high seven rebounds.
The Old Dominion men's basketball team still has two more left on the week. The Monarchs return home to host James Madison on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. and Hofstra on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Saturday's game against the Pride will air on Comcast Mid-Atlantic (Ch 35 - Hampton Roads), Comcast New England, Comcast Philadelphia, and the Madison Square Garden Network.