NORFOLK, Va. – Senior Gerald Lee tallied a season-high 24 points and the Old Dominion defense was once again stellar as the Monarchs picked up their third consecutive victory, topping Atlantic-10 foe Duquesne, 63-54, Wednesday evening at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
Lee, who has scored in double figures in 10 games this season, also pulled down six rebounds and blocked three shots for the Monarchs. As a team Old Dominion (9-4) blocked a season-best 12 shots. ODU’s previous best came in the season opener against Bethune-Cookman as the Monarchs rejected six shots.
ODU’s stingy defense, which is ranked second nationally in points allowed per game, held Duquesne (9-5) to a 32.2 percent shooting clip for the game. The Dukes are the sixth straight opponent to be held under 60 points by the Monarchs.
After a back-and-forth first 16 minutes, the game was tied at 23. The Monarchs would end the half on a 5-0 run though to take a 28-23 lead into the intermission. Lee and junior Keyon Carter combined for 14 of ODU’s 28 points in the opening period of play.
After a pair of free throws from Duquesne’s Bill Clark cut the Monarch lead to three in the second half, Lee scored seven consecutive points to put ODU up 35-25 just three minutes into the second half.
Old Dominion’s lead would balloon to as many as 11 points, but the Dukes would not go away quietly. An 8-0 DU run would cut the ODU lead to only three (42-39) midway through the second stanza.
The Monarchs put the Dukes away though in the final minutes as a Ben Finney breakaway dunk and a Gerald Lee lay-in would push ODU’s lead back to double digits with less than two minutes remaining.
