Feb. 19, 2010
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) -- Ali Farokhmanesh scored 23 points as No. 24 Northern Iowa defeated Old Dominion 71-62 in a BracketBuster game Friday night, breaking the school record for wins in a season. The contest was televised on ESPN2.
The Panthers are 24-3 after winning eight of nine and are one victory from completing and undefeated run at home. They are 13-0 at the McLeod Center this season and have won 14 straight there dating back to last season.
Gerald Lee scored 19 points to lead the Monarchs (21-8), who fell to 4-1 all-time in BracketBuster games.
Down 8-6 early, Northern Iowa put together a 15-2 run and never trailed again. The Panthers led 31-22 at halftime and extended their lead to as many as 14.
ODU cut into the Panthers lead and with 16:49 left in the game, the score was 34-30after a Darius James trey. But Ali Farokhmanesh came right back to nail a three, anda free throw along with Lucas O'Rear's trey to put UNI back up 10 at 40-30 with15:59 left.
Old Dominion pulled to within 51-46 with 9:19 to play, on a Gerald Lee jumper, but again Farakhamanesh hit a trey, then a layup and the Monarchs didn't get closer than six the rest of the way.
Kent Bazemore joined Lee in double figures for ODU with 13 points on six-for-nine shooting. Frank Hassell led all rebounders with nine and he scored ine points.Ben Finney led the Monarchs with five assists.
UNI shot .468 (22-47) from the field, while ODU shot .469 (23-49). The Panthersoutrebounded ODU, 30-26 as Adam Koch hauled down seven boards and Lucas O'Rear hadsix for UNI.
Northern Iowa nailed 20-22 shots from beyond the arc, while ODU was 6-19. Farakhmanesh was 5-9 for the game and 5-7 in the second half.
The Monarchs return to CAA play on Tuesday night in Atlanta, GA when they take onthe Panthers of Georgia State. The contest will be televised live on Comcast MidAtlantic on channel 35 in the Hampton Roads area.