ODU aces early test vs. tougher foe

NORFOLK

It had been a week of 30-point leads, bulging box scores, and blow-out wins for Old Dominion.

That changed Saturday night when the Monarchs, as expected, found themselves in a tightly contested game for the first time in this young season.

The Marshall Thundering Herd represented an upgrade in opponent for ODU, which had beaten Bethune-Cookman, Longwood and Liberty by an average of 34 points.

It was clear early that Saturday was not going to be that type of night. But after a slow start, the Monarchs took control late in the first half, and methodically pulled away in the second for a 70-62 win in front of 7,141 at the Constant Center.

ODU ran its record to 4-0, heading into this week's trip to South Padre Island. The Monarchs did so with their trademark physical play inside, scoring 48 points in the paint to Marshall's 24. ODU grabbed 40 rebounds to Marshall's 26, and had 19 second-chance points to the Herd's four.

"We knew coming in they were going to crash the boards," Marshall forward Tyler Wilkerson said. "They killed us on the rebounds."

And offensively, around the basket. Gerald Lee scored a game-high 22 points on 8 of 13 shooting and forward Frank Hassell had 13 points on 6 of 7 accuracy. Lee scored 16 in the second half.

"He's been sharing the load, but when it came time to ride him a little bit, he was ready to be the horse," coach Blaine Taylor said.

Lee, the preseason co-Player of the Year in the Colonial Athletic Association, averaged 10.3 points in the first three games as ODU spread the wealth and shared the minutes in three runaway wins.

Taylor shortened his rotation a bit Saturday, but again, ODU's depth was a big plus. Though they were playing their fourth game in seven days, the Monarchs wore Marshall (2-1) down over the course of 40 minutes.

"Four games in a week, that's what we want to be doing," Taylor said.

The Monarchs seemed a little anxious early, Taylor said, having basically not trailed in a game to this point.

Marshall jumped up 9-4, but ODU settled in and took a seven-point lead into the half. The Monarchs stretched it to 17 early in the second.

ODU hit just two 3-pointers on the night, both by guard Marsharee Neely. But they were timely. His first stretched a six-point lead to nine, and his next put ODU up 15 four minutes into the second half.

"It was a moment pusher, yeah," Neely said. "We were going on a run, and that just helped."

ODU kept the lead at 16 until under two minutes left. The Monarchs missed some free throws and Marshall hit some late baskets to cut the final margin to eight.

It wasn't truly that close. Still, it was closer - by far - than any of the Monarchs' first three contests.

"It was great," guard Kent Bazemore said. "It was basketball. We knew coming into the game it was going to be a lot tougher. They beat us last year, so we came into the game with a chip on our shoulder.

"It was a stepping-stone game, to see where we are. And we're in a good place."

Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372, ed.miller@pilotonline.com