Dec. 7, 2010
GREENVILE, NC-- The ODU Monarchs (6-2) poured in 51 second half points to defeatEast Carolina, 81-68 Tuesday night in Minges Coliseum. Red-shirt junior Kent Bazemore led the way with 20 points, followed by senior Ben Finney with 17 and fellow senior Darius James with 13.
ECU jumped out to a 10-point lead, 25-15 with 10:21 left in the first half aftera basket by Jamar Abrams. The Monarchs would rally and cut the lead to one athalftime, 31-30 on a free throw by Darius James.
In the second half, ODU took the lead for good at 44-41 on a three-pointer by TrianIliadis at 15:41 left in the game. The Monarchs began to take control of the contest at the 6:03 mark. Ben Finney hit a three to put the Monarchs up 67-63, thenFinney tipped in a missed shot at the 5:09 mark to make it 69-63. Chris Cooperscored on a layup at 4:22 to make it 71-63, followed by another layup by Finney andBazemore to give the Monarchs at 75-63 lead after the 11-0 run.
Bazemore not only scored 20 points, but dished out three assists and came up with four steals. He hit eight-for 12 from the floor and three-for-four from three pointrange.
Finney scored 14 of his 17 in the second half, dished out four assists, had three steals, blocked two shots, and six rebounds. He needs just two points to join the 1,000 career point mark.
Darius James led the Monarchs with five assists and scored 10 points in the second half. ODU also got another strong performance from Chris Cooper made his first career start tonight and scored a career high nine points hauled down a career high tying eight rebounds for the second straight game. Frank Hassell scored eight points and grabbed seven boards with three blocked shots.
The Monarchs committed only four turnovers in the second half after nine in the first. ODU also shot a season best .544(31-57) from the field along with eighttreys in 19 attempts (.421).
ECU was led by Jamar Abrams with 22 points along with Darrius Morrow's 14. The Pirates shot .500 (24-48) from the floor, but turned the ball over 16 times.
ODU returns home to host Maryland-Eastern Shore Thursday night at 7 p.m. in theConstant Center.