Bazemore Leads Old Dominion Over Delaware, 88-74, in CAA Tournament Quarterfinals
March 3, 2012
• Boxscore
File Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell
RICHMOND, Va. -- ODU senior forward Kent Bazemore scored 24 points while four other Monarchs reached double figures as fourth-seeded Old Dominion defeated fifth-seeded Delaware, 88-74, in the Virginia 529 Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Basketball Quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at the Richmond Coliseum.
The Monarchs, who improved to 20-12 on the season, advance to the CAA Semifinals where they will face top-seeded Drexel Sunday at 2 p.m. The Blue Hens, who had their nine-game winning streak snapped, end their regular season at 18-13 and will hope for a bid to a postseason tournament.
Bazemore, a first team All-CAA selection and the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, went 9 of 20 from the field, grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and handed out four assists for Old Dominion. Donte Hill scored a season-best 15 points for the Monarchs, while Chris Cooper chipped in with 13 points and eight boards. Nick Wright contributed 12 points while Demitri Batten had 10 for Old Dominion, which defeated Delaware for the fifth consecutive meeting and for the eight time in nine matchups.
Blue Hen sophomore guard and second team All-CAA selection Devon Saddler (at right) scored 24 points for Delaware, becoming the 29th player in Blue Hen history to surpass the 1,000-point mark. Jamelle Hagins, another second team All-Conference pick, collected his 15th double-double of the season with 12 points and 15 rebounds, while Jarvis Threatt reached double figures for the seventh straight game by pouring in 12 points.
Old Dominion shot 48.6 percent from the field and hit 9 of 20 three-pointers en route to its highest scoring game of the season. The Blue Hens shot a respectable 47.3 percent, but connected on just 5 of 17 shots from behind the arc.
‘This stings because of the high expectations we had here at this championship,” said Blue Hen head coach Monté Ross, who guided his team to a perfect February before Friday’s first round win over Towson. “I told the guys that I really hope I get to coach this group again, because it’s been a very enjoyable experience. This is a special group, and I hope we have the opportunity to carry on. I thought we contested their shots pretty well in the first half, but they made some tough three-pointers. We looked our age a bit in the second half, and gave up too much dribble penetration.”
Old Dominion opened the game with five consecutive points but Delaware quickly responded with six of its own, while a Hagins tip-in knotted the contest at 10-10 six minutes into the contest. The Monarchs went back up by five before the Blue Hens used another 6-0 run, capped with a Kyle Anderson three-pointer, to take the lead at 30-29 with 6:42 on the clock.
ODU went back up by three in the seesaw affair, before a three-pointer by Anderson and a tip-in by Kelvin McNeil put Delaware in front by two. A pair of free throws by Threatt made it a 40-39 Blue Hen advantage but the Monarchs would close the period with an 8-2 run, including the final six by Bazemore, to take a 47-42 margin into the break.
Old Dominion then opened the second half by scoring on its first five possessions, using an 11-4 run capped by another Bazemore triple to extend the margin to 58-46 and force a Delaware timeout with 17:08 to play.
The Blue Hens would not let the game get away from them, as Threatt again connected twice from the line to make it a 67-56 game with 10:53 remaining. But the Monarchs then put the contest away with another 11-4 spurt, going up a game-high 18 points at 78-60 on a Marquel De Lancey steal and dunk with eight minutes to play.
Delaware pulled within 12 twice from there, the second time at 84-72 with 1:37 to go on a Saddler bucket, but would not seriously threaten the Monarchs from there.
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