Seahawks beat Rams in rematch of last year’s CAA Championship

The league-leading field goal percentage defense of the VCU men’s basketball team proved on match for the Seahawks of UNC-Wilmington Saturday, as the Rams played toward their worst CAA loss ever, 81-50.

This was a rematch of last year’s CAA Championship game at the Richmond Coliseum, where UNC-Wilmington won 66-51.

“It’s an old-fashioned butt whipping,” VCU head coach Jeff Capel said.

“They beat us at every position. We had no pride out there today. We didn’t fight.”

The Rams never had the lead in the game. The Seahawks scored an early basket to take a 2-0 lead, followed by a basket from VCU’s Troy Godwin to tie the game at 2-2. Another Godwin basket minutes later once again tied the game at 4-4. It all went downhill for the Rams from that point on.

Brett Blizzard scored five straight points to help UNC-Wilmington (12-4, 6-1 CAA) march to a 15-4 lead. VCU (9-7, 4-4 CAA) pulled within six points, 17-11, midway through the half, before the Seahawks rolled off seven straight points to take a 24-11 lead. A free throw by the Rams cut the lead to 12, before the Seahawks answered back with a three to take a 27-12 lead.

The Seahawks continued to dominate from every angle to take a 49-28 lead into the locker room at halftime. UNC-Wilmington shot a blistering 61.5 percent from the field, including 71 percent from behind the arc and 75 percent from the free throw line. VCU shot 34.4 percent, 50 percent of their three’s and 50 percent of their free throws.

Things began equally as bad in the second half for the Rams as theSeahawks outscored VCU 17-4 in the first 10 minutes of the half.

UNC-Wilmington never let up throughout, taking a 34-point lead near the end of the half, 77-43. The Seahawks ended up with the commanding 32-point win. The win marked the first for UNC-Wilmington in four tries at the Siegel Center.

“We played about as well as we could today,” said UNC-Wilmington coach

Brad Brownell. “I thought we defended exceptionally well today.”

For the game, UNC-Wilmington shot 50 percent from the field, 50 percent from three-point range and 83 percent of their free throws. VCU shot 33 percent of their field goals, 28 percent of their three-pointers, and a dismal 47 percent from the free throw line. VCU leads the league in free throw percentage.

“We couldn’t execute anything,” Capel said. “We wouldn’t do anything today. We have to find some guys willing to fight. Everything they did was easy.

“It was embarrassing. I feel absolutely horrible.” Capel hinted at a possible shakeup in the lineup, which might include giving Michael Doles a starting job.

Brett Blizzard and Tim Burnette scorched the Rams, with 27 and 24 points, respectively. Craig Callahan added 11 points to the effort.

Domonic Jones led the way for the Rams with 13, followed by a career-high 12 points for Michael Doles.

Men’s Basketball’s next matchup is against Old Dominion University Saturday, Feb. 1 in Norfolk at 7 p.m.