Davis propels Rams to first-round win over Tribe

When a species is faced with a life-threatening situation, it must adapt with its surroundings if it has any chance of survival.

VCU did just that Friday night, keeping their conference-championship hopes alive when it overcame rare outside-shooting struggles and shifted to the pounding low-post play of Eric Davis (Philadelphia, Pa.) to hold on for a dramatic 62-59 triumph over William and Mary in the opening round of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament.

Fourth-year coach Jeff Capel knew the game wasn’t pretty but was satisfied with the way his players found a way to win.

“The name of this tournament is to survive the games,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how you do it or how good you look doing it; it just matters that you do it.”

After leading most of the second half, the sixth-seeded Rams found themselves trailing the 11th-seeded Tribe 57-56 with 2:51 left after a familiar second-half collapse. This time, however, the Rams would not surrender.

Junior guard B.A. Walker (Onancock/ Nandua High School) put the Rams on top 58-57 with back-to-back free throws, and Jesse Pellot-Rosa (Richmond/ George Wythe High School) built the lead to three when he put back an offensive rebound with 49 ticks on the clock.

After the Tribe cut the lead to one with a jumper from forward Corey Cofield, it was up to point guard Eric Maynor (Fayetteville, N.C.) to seal the victory. After missing crucial free throws earlier in the half, the freshman stood as steady as any veteran on the court, sinking both free throws and assuring the Rams the win.

“Down the stretch, he had missed two free throws earlier,” Capel said, “But he stepped up to the line with a lot of confidence, and we had a lot of confidence in him.”

With 10 seconds left on the clock, guard Nathan Mann made two valiant efforts to tie the game for the Tribe from 3-point range, but he had too many Rams defenders in his face to get off decent tries.

For a majority of the game, the Rams did not look like the team that swept the Tribe during the season and had won eight of their past nine meetings. Both teams’ passing was sloppy, and poor ball handling led to numerous turnovers.

The Rams, the best 3-point shooting team in the conference during the regular season, struggled from behind the arc shooting an uncharacteristic 0-for-10. In fact, heading into the game the Rams went 302 games with at least one 3-pointer, dating back to Feb. 16, 1996 when they went 0-for-5 against American University.

They were able to overcome their poor play with the help of Davis, whose strong post performance helped him to a game-high 18 points.

Davis said his teammates kept giving him the ball, so he had to respond.

“I was just trying to make strong moves,” he said, “my teammates kept coming

to me.”

Tribe coach Tony Shaver said it took the two previous games for him to figure out that the best way for his team to focus defensively was to limit the Rams’ ability to shoot from behind the arc.

“I thought one of their keys to victory tonight in all honesty was we tried to take the 3’s away, which means that our post players are on an island by themselves inside,” he said. “I told our players if they beat us, it’s going to be from the inside.”

The Rams were also provided strong post play from forwards Nick George (Manchester, England) and reserve forward Michael Anderson (Virginia Beach/ Landstown High School). George scored 12 points, and Anderson added eight points and a game-high seven rebounds. Pellot-Rosa also was a factor, chipping in 10 points.

The Tribe was paced by Cofield, who scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Center Brian Hutt added 12 points, and CAA All-Rookie Team member Calvin Baker hauled in a team-high six rebounds.

Capel said he was impressed with the Tribe’s performance, and he was proud his squad was able to beat such a strong, young team.

“(The Tribe) were really good tonight, they really were,” Capel said. We were very fortunate to pull out a win. I don’t believe in luck, I’ve never believed in luck. You create your own luck. We were fortunate to win, and we made the plays down the stretch.”