Men’s Basketball earns sixth consecutive victory against ODU

The Rams earned their second consecutive win this past weekend when they defeated Old Dominion in a close, three-point game. A three-pointer from senior guard Willie Taylor and a strong defensive maneuver by Emanuel Mathis in the last minute of play gave VCU the final edge necessary to win the game. VCU Men’s Basketball earned the road victory in front of the 8,418 in attendance at the Ted Constant Center by a score of 72-69.

The three from Taylor took the game from the 67-all tie to a 70-67 VCU lead, with less than a minute remaining in the game. Ricardo Marsh responded for ODU, bringing the team within one point of the Rams. Marsh then stole the ball from VCU with less than 10 seconds remaining on the clock, and dribbled to the opposite end of the court.

Mathis stopped Marsh with three seconds left. Taylor then broke through the Monarchs defense for a dunk with less than a second left on the clock to bring the score to 72-69. ODU was unable to score on their last possession.

Guard Domonic Jones led the Rams with 19 points in 39 minutes of play. Jones went 8-14 and made three out of six free throws. Jones also had nine boards for VCU.

Although Michael Doles didn’t start, he played 30 minutes and earned the second most points for the Rams with 14, while grabbing six rebounds in the effort. Doles landed four out of his six three-point shots in the game.

Also scoring in the double digits for the Rams was Taylor, earning 12 points. Taylor went 5-7 including two three-pointers. All of Taylor’s points came in the second half of the game, with Taylor receiving 19 minutes of play.

Troy Godwin led VCU with rebounds, coming up with 10 on the evening in his 30 minutes of play.

ODU had two players coming in with double digits. Ricardo Marsh had 28 points for the Monarchs after shooting 9-17 and making 10-14 free throws. Marsh also had six rebounds for the Monarchs. Rasheed Wright was the other player to score in the double digits for ODU, with 11, which included two three pointers. Wright also had six rebounds for the Monarchs. Alex Loughton led the Monarchs with seven rebounds.

In the first half of the game, ODU took control, holding a lead over VCU that would get as high as 13 points. In the last two minutes of the half, VCU went on an 11-2 run to close the gap to only four points before going into the locker room. In the second half, VCU took control working to build its own 12 point advantage of 66-54 with less than six minutes left in the game.

ODU responded with a 13-1 run to tie the game at 67 which would bring the game into the final minutes.

The Rams’ win over the Monarchs is their sixth straight victory over the team.

VCU shot 39.6 percent total, including 20 percent for three pointers. From the line, VCU shot 72.7 percent. ODU shot 41 percent total, including 46.2 percent for three pointers. The Monarchs free throw percentage was 66.7.

VCU moves up to 11-7 (6-4 in the CAA), and ODU drops to 9-9 (6-4 in the CAA). VCU plays Towson Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Siegel Center.