Jan. 19, 2011
NORFOLK, Va. - Old Dominion University did not trail after the 17 minute mark of the first half and hung on for a hard fought 64-58 Colonial Athletic Association win over James Madison Wednesday night in front of a sold out crowd at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
Old Dominion (14-4/5-2) went on a 9-2 run capped off by a jumper from Chris Cooper to build a 48-39 lead with eight minutes to go, but James Madison (15-4/5-2) closed the gap to 56-54 on a layup by Denzel Bowles.
The Monarchs fought back to build the lead back to five with free throws from Kent Bazemore and Frank Hassell.
JMU cut the lead to three on a pair of foul shots from Bowles, but Hassell hit a foul shot to put ODU up four and the Monarchs forced a JMU turnover on their next possession. Bazemore hit a pair of free throws to ice the game with six seconds remaining to make the score 62-56.
Hassell and Bazemore led ODU with 15 points apiece, with Hassell becoming the second Monarch to reach the 1,000 career point mark this season, as he now as 1,002 in his career. Ben Finney reached the 1,000 career points mark earlier this year. Hassell also had 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. He is now averaging 9.4 rebounds per game.
Finney chipped in 12 points while Chris Cooper pulled down 13 rebounds and played solid defense on Bowles. It was Coopers second highest total this year. He grabbed 16 earlier this season against Maryland-Eastern Shore. ODU dominated the boards, 39-31.
Bowles led JMU with 20 points and nine rebounds while Humpty Hitchens hit four three-pointers for all of his 12 points. Rayshawn Goins added 10 points and sevenrebounds.
The Monarchs shot .404 (19-47) from the field, while JMU was held to .390 (23-59).ODU blocked eight shots on the night as both Cooper and Hassell swatted three each,while Trian Iliadis, Ben Finney and Keyon Carter each came up with two steals.
The crowd of 8,457 was the Monarchs third sellout of the season and fourth over8,000. Throught nine home games ODU is averaging 7,538. Before the game ODU AthleticDirector Dr. Wood Selig presented Blaine Taylor with a commemorative plate forhim becoming ODU's winningest men's basketball coach in school history.
The Monarchs return to action on Saturday when they host the Rams of VCU at4 p.m. The contest is already sold out.