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ATLANTA - Kent Bazemore scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Old Dominion to a thrilling CAA overtime win over Georgia State 65-60 Wednesday night.
The win clinches a first round bye for the Monarchs in next week's CAA Championships. This was also ODU's school record sixth overtime game this year.The Monarchs are 4-2. ODU is also 7-2 on the road in CAA games. The win makes thiscurrent class of seniors the winningest in Monarch history with 98 career wins.
Chris Cooper had 11 points and 17 rebounds for the Monarchs who outrebounded Georgia State (19-10, 10-7 Colonial Athletic Association) 50-39.That gives Cooper his 15th double-double of the year, tying him with Frank Hassell ('11) for eighth spot on ODU's all-time list. Donte Hill hauled down eight boards,and Nick Wright grabbed nine.
The Panthers led 54-51 before Bazemore hit a 3-pointer to tie it with 2:08 left. Jihad Ali made two free throws to put Georgia State back on top but Dimitri Batten scored on a layup and the Monarchs held Georgia State scoreless over the final minute to push the game into overtime.
Old Dominion (19-11, 13-4) dominated the extra period, going ahead 61-56 behind a Donte Hill layup and Bazemore 3-pointer, while holding the Panthers without a point until Eric Buckner's free throws with 49 seconds remaining.
Jihad then hit a three-ponter with 38 seconds left to cut ODU's lead to 61-60.ODU's Nick Wright then hit two free throws with 26 seconds left to make it 63-60. After Jihad missed, Batten got a break-a-way dunk to finish the score at 65-60.
Ali led Georgia State with 20 but the Panthers shot just 29.3 percent (22 of 75) from the field.
The Monarchs committed only two turnovers in the second half and overtime to finishwith just seven. Led by Hill with four steals, the Monarchs came up with a totalof 12 on the night. Chris Cooper and Dimitri Batten each had two steals as well.
ODU returns home to take on Drexel Saturday at 4 p.m. in the final regular seasonhome game for seniors Chris Cooper, Trian Iliadis, Marquel De Lancey and Kent Bazemore. The winningest class in ODU history will be honored pre-game.
This upcoming Friday morning (February 24th) will be our LAST basketball breakfast of the season to honor the seniors. The breakfast will begin at 7:30am and will be $5.00 at the door.