MEN’S BASKETBALL

Contender or pretender? Delaware’s
5-0 start to conference play
opened eyes to a dark horse that was
picked to finish in 10th place in the
Colonial Athletic Association. VCU
cast doubt on Delaware’s potential
with a convincing 60-39 win over the
first-place Blue Hens Wednesday at
the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

The Rams jumped to an early
13-7 lead on the heels of recent slow
starts at home against Georgia State
and Hofstra.

Senior Jamal Shuler (Jacksonville,
NC/Jacksonville) sparked the team’s
surge, making good on 4 of 6 3-point
attempts in the first half. Shuler dedicated
much of his effort to guarding
Antoine Agudio, the nation’s No. 4
scorer, in Saturday’s game against
Hofstra and finished with only 10
points.

“They were the same shots they
were the other night,” Shuler said.
“Tonight they were just falling, and
it helped out at both ends.”

Shuler was able to play with the
defensive intensity level that he has
had all season. He totaled 21 points
in the game and was the only Ram
to finish in double figures.

The Blue Hens added themselves
to the growing list of teams to have
no answer for the Rams’ defense.
Delaware mustered only 17 points
in the first half, and VCU lowered
its league-leading scoring defense
to just a shade above 58 points per
game. This was the third consecutive
game in which the Rams held their
opponent to fewer than 50 points.

“They guard you as soon as you get
off the bus,” Blue Hens coach Monte
Ross said of the Rams. “We did not
have the right response.”

Ross’ team almost had an answer after
halftime. The Blue Hens scored
the second half’s first four points
to cut the deficit to 14, but were never
able to close to within single digits.
The Rams at one point were able to
increase their lead to 26 points.

Home court gave VCU an advantage,
as did having key players
that have become accustomed to big
games. Delaware was armed with
less experience.

“If you go down our roster, you
won’t see one player that has ever
been involved in a game on the
road, in a hostile environment, for
first place,” Ross said.

Free throw struggles again plagued
the Rams. Wil Fameni (Douala,
Cameroon/Amelia Academy) hit
the team’s only first-half free throw,
and it came with less than a minute
remaining until halftime. VCU
finished the game just 4 of 10 from
the free-throw line.

Conference player of the week
Herb Courtney was limited to 11
points and didn’t convert his first
field goal until seeing more than 17
minutes of action.

Delaware committed 21 turnovers
and totaled just five assists. The
team shot 6.7 percent from beyond
the 3-point line, making just one
after missing 28 in a row spanning
two games.

Freshman Larry Sanders (Fort
Pierce, Fla./Port St. Lucie) made
another start and continued his
emergence as a powerful post
presence with five blocks and eight
points.

VCU is now tied with Delaware
for first place atop the CAA standings
with a 5-1 conference record.
The Rams have won nine straight
over the Blue Hens and are riding a
four-game winning streak overall,
heading into a showdown Saturday
at 4 p.m. at Old Dominion.

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Inside the numbers
Delaware (5-1 CAA, 8-8): Courtney 11, Ledsome 6, Egerson 11,
Dawson 4, Johnson 4, Cooper 1, Boney 0, Santiago 2. Totals: 13 12-19
39. 3-pointers: Egerson.
VCU (5-1 CAA, 12-4): Sanders 8, Anderson 8, Maynor 9, Rodriguez 3,
Shuler 21, Fameni 5, Rozzell 0, Pishchalnikov 0, Kearse 0, Gwynn 4,
Nixon 2. Totals: 25 4-10 60. 3-pointers: Shuler 5, Maynor.
—-

MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS
games team conference overall back streak

VCU 5-1 12-4 – W4

Delaware 5-1 8-8 – L1

Old Dominion 4-2 9-9 1 W1

William & Mary 4-2 8-8 1 W4

George Mason 3-2 11-5 1