CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL RECAP - DEC. 8
Old Dominion 64, Mount St. Mary's 38
Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. - The ODU men's basketball team (6-3) cruised a 26-point victory over the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers (3-6) at home tonight, improving to 5-0 at home this season. Junior guard Darius James posted a season-high 14 points and the Monarchs were led by senior Gerald Lee for the sixth time this season with 16 points.
ODU held the Mountaineers to just 20 shots and a season-low 16 points scored in the first half. Mount St. Mary's managed just 6-for-20 in the first half for 30% shooting, including a 1-for-4 effort from beyond the arc. The ODU defense managed six steals and one block, forcing 11 turnovers in the first half.
Taking advantage of the Mountaineers cold streak, the Monarchs built a 19-point lead heading into halftime. The Monarchs used a 10-0 run that lasted just under seven minutes to create some distance, forcing seven missed shots and six turnovers in that stretch. The run was punctuated by a breakaway dunk from sophomore Kent Bazemore after a Ben Finney steal with 5:22 remaining.
Senior Gerald Lee led the way for ODU in the first 20 minutes with 10 points, while junior Keyon Carter added seven and Ben Finney had six. The Monarchs dominated the boards, hauling in 28 rebounds compared to just 11 for the Mountaineers, including a 15-2 advantage on the offensive glass. Carter had a game-high six in the first half.
Lee finished in double figures for the seventh time this season with a game-high 16 points, while Darius James finished in double figures for the first time this season with his season-high 14. James added five assists and finished 6-for-10 from the field. Bazemore rounded out the Monarchs in double-digits with 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting, adding five rebounds.
Carter added three rebounds in the second half to lead ODU with nine total, while Frank Hassell hauled in eight in the win. Every Monarch but point guard Marquel De Lancey had at least one rebound as the Monarchs continued to dominate the glass in the second half, finishing with a 50-29 advantage. The Monarchs allowed just eight offensive boards in the game for the Mountaineers, while grabbing 22 on their own offensive glass. De Lancey made up for it by posting three assists and a game-high three thefts.
Mount St. Mary's was led by Jean Cajou, scoring 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting. Kelly Beidler had six points and a team-high five rebounds in the contest, also blocking two shots. Reserves Tayvon Jackson and Danny Thompson also had two blocks.
The Mountaineers finished just 29.4% from the field on 15-of-51 shooting while ODU was hitting at a 37.9% clip on 25-of-66 shooting.
Old Dominion hits the road for a pair of tough road games as they head to Ohio to face RV/RV Dayton this Friday, December 11, and then on to #15/13 Georgetown on Saturday, December 19. Tip against the Flyers this Friday night is at 7:00 p.m. and fans can tune in to ESPN Radio 94.1 FM for live play-by-play.
Dayton 56, George Mason 55
Box Score
FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason men's basketball team saw its 18-game home winning streak snapped on Tuesday evening as the Patriots rallied from an 18-point second-half deficit but could never come up with enough to overtake Dayton, as Mason fell to the Flyers, 56-55 at Patriot Center. It was the seventh-longest active home winning streak in the nation heading into the contest. Mason had last lost at home on Feb. 16, 2008, 75-73 to UNC Wilmington.
Mason used a 17-2 run midway through the second period to rally back into the game after trailing 39-21 with less than 16 minutes to play. A Louis Birdsong 3-point play got the Mason run started with Sherrod Wright scoring six, Mike Morrison scoring four and Luke Hancock and Cam Long each adding baskets. But after Mason pulled to within two at 43-41, Dayton scored on back-to-back trips down the court to go back up by six. The game stay tight until Mickey Perry's free throws with 34 seconds to go made it a three possession game. After Andre Cornelius' 3-pointer with 10 seconds to go pulled Mason to within two, Chris Johnson made a pair of free throws to ice the game with seven seconds to play. Wright hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to account for the final margin.
Wright had career highs to lead Mason with 17 points and six rebounds. He was 4 of 4 from the field and 8 of 8 from the free throw line. Morrison had 10 on 5 of 10 shooting. Chris Johnson had 14 for Dayton which used a 10-6 edge on the offensive glass to help get the shots it needed to pull out the win. Dayton had a 13-6 edge in second-chance points and a 23-16 edge in points off turnovers.
With the score tied 14-14, Dayton went on a 21-3 run that saw Mason held without a field goal for 14 minutes, 31 seconds. The draught, which covered 11 consecutive missed shots, ended when Morrison scored with one second to go in the first half to make it a 35-19 game at the break. Mason shot 27.3 percent in the first half while Dayton shot 50 percent from the field. Mason made 10 turnovers twice as many as Dayton. The Patriots did go 7 of 8 from the line while Dayton was 1 of 3, and that allowed Mason to be as close as it was at the half.
Mason will return to action on Saturday when the Patriots host Creighton (3-4) at 1 p.m. at Patriot Center. That game will be broadcast on WTNT 570 AM.