HOFSTRA DROPS HEARTBREAKER TO ODU IN CAA QUARTERFINALS Richmond, VA --
Junior forward Gerald Lee had 30 points and 10 rebounds to overcome 27 points from Hofstra sophomore guard Charles Jenkins (Queens, NY) as the Old Dominion Men's Basketball team ear
Junior forward Gerald Lee had 30 points and 10 rebounds to overcome 27 points from Hofstra sophomore guard Charles Jenkins (Queens, NY) as the Old Dominion Men's Basketball team earned a 52-51 win over Hofstra on Saturday afternoon in the CAA quarterfinals at the Richmond Coliseum.
With the loss, the fifth-seeded Pride falls to 21-11 and will await a possible postseason tournament bid. Fourth-seeded Old Dominion improves to 21-9 and moves on to face top-seeded VCU in the semifinals on Sunday.
The game was decided in the closing seconds, as Jenkins hit a 15-footer with 10.2 seconds left to cut the Old Dominion lead to 52-51. The Monarchs then turned the ball over in the backcourt, and Hofstra called its final time-out with 3.8 seconds left after diving on the loose ball.
Hofstra inbounded to Jenkins, who tried to go to his left, but was cut off by freshman guard Kent Bazemore. He spun back to his right, and tried to get off an 18-footer, but senior Jonathan Adams ran out in help defense and was able to block the shot at the buzzer.
The Pride trailed by 10 at 42-32 with nine minutes to go after scoring only five points in the first 11 minutes of the second half. Sophomore guard Nathaniel Lester (Brooklyn, NY) got a put-back to cut the lead to eight, and Jenkins had back-to-back assists as he passed to Dane Johnson (Brooklyn, NY) for a lay-up and sophomore forward Greg Washington (Centereach, NY) for a dunk to cut the lead to 44-42.
Jenkins gave Hofstra its first lead since its 29-28 halftime advantage when he hit a three-pointer at the top of the key with 2:02 left to make the score 47-46. Lee, though, got a lay-up coming out of a timeout, and after a Jenkins miss from 15 feet, Lee tapped in a Darius James miss to stretch the lead to 50-47 with 39 seconds left.
Jenkins made two foul shots to cut the lead to 50-49, but James hit both ends of a one-and-one with 20.2 seconds left after the first one nearly spun out but hung on the rim and fell in. Jenkins then hit a 12-footer in the paint with 10.2 seconds left to set up the dramatic finish.
Hofstra took a 29-28 lead in the break after a first half that was full of runs. Old Dominion came out and took an early 9-2 lead at the opening media timeout behind seven points from Lee. The Pride took the punch, though, and countered with a bigger one, using a 20-2 run to pull ahead 22-11 on two foul shots from junior forward Miklos Szabo (Szeghalom, Hungary).
Old Dominion answered back with a 13-2 run to tie the score at 24-24 on a lay-up from Kent Bazemore, and Jenkins closed out the half with a three-pointer at the 1:00 mark to make the score 29-28 at the break.
Old Dominion held a 46-34 advantage on the boards, a
