Rams offense stays hot in win over JMU

James Madison upset VCU Jan. 2 with a
Juwann James buzzer-beating layup. VCU
earned a 75-56 revenge victory while shooting
55.6 percent from the floor Wednesday
at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. The win was
the fourth in a row for the Rams.

“We knew they would play better, being
at home,” said James Madison head coach
Dean Keener. “They had their ‘A’ game.”

Freshman Larry Sanders (Fort Pierce,
Fla./Port St. Lucie) started the last eight
games for the Rams but didn’t see action
until more than four minutes into the
second half.

“It was my decision,” said VCU head
coach Anthony Grant, who declined to give
further explanation.

Jamal Shuler (Jacksonville, N.C./Jacksonville)
was 4 of 5 on 3-point shooting, helping
the Rams go 53.3 percent from behind the
arc for the game. One of his long-range
jumpers came from well behind the 3-point
line, but the senior felt compelled to take
the shot.

“The defender backed up. I thought
that was disrespectful,” Shuler said with
a grin.

Shuler led all scorers with 22 points, the
12th time he has led the Rams in scoring
this season.

“I thought our ball movement was good,”
Grant said. “They have very good perimeter
defense.”

Abdulai Jalloh had torched opponents
for 26.5 points per game in the last two
contests to earn CAA co-player of the week
honors. The Dukes’ leading scorer was held
below his season average Wednesday with
13 points.

The absence of James Madison point
guard Pierre Curtis gave the Rams an
advantage starting with the opening tip.

“I thought he would be back for this
game,” Grant said. “Without Curtis, they’ve
had to make some adjustments … he’s a
huge part of their team.”

Keener said Curtis, who participated in
pregame warmups, was feeling pain in his
sprained knee acquired Feb. 2 at George
Mason. Curtis’ inactive status was a gametime
decision. The sophomore netted 11
points and added four assists in the first
meeting with VCU.

The Rams jumped to a 23-11 lead 11
minutes into the first half and maintained a
double-digit lead for the rest of the game.

James Madison started the
second half on a 13-6 run to cut
the lead to 10, but then struggled
in frontcourt offense.

“We did well against the
press,” said Dukes’ freshman
guard Heiden Ratner. “It was
really turnovers after the press”
that caused problems.

Ratner suffered a cut above his
left eye, causing the game to be
paused several times to treat the
blood from the wound.

Eighteen of VCU’s 25 converted
shots came off assists.
Junior Eric Maynor (Raeford,
N.C./Westover) tallied a gamehigh
five assists and added 16
points.

The Rams improve to 12-2 in
the conference and 19-5 overall.
The team is 11-0 at home this
season and has not lost to the
same opponent twice under
Grant. Next on the schedule is
Saturday’s 8 p.m. game against
Old Dominion at the Siegel
Center.

“It’ll be an electric game. It’s a
great rivalry,” Grant said.

—

By the numbers:

James Madison (4-10 CAA, 11-13):
Swanston 9, James 8, Carter 13, Ratner
9, Jalloh 13, Louis 4, Chami 0, Kendall 0,
Parker 0, Thornton 0. Totals: 20 14-21 56.
3-pointers: Ratner, Jalloh.

VCU (12-2, 19-5): Pishchalnikov 4,
Anderson 8, Maynor 16, Rodriguez 6,
Shuler 22, Sanders 0, Fameni 2, Smith
0, Rozzell 3, Ndongo 2, Kearse 0, Brown
3, Gwynn 8, Nixon 1. Totals: 25 17-26 75.
3-pointers: Maynor 2, Shuler 4, Rozzell,
Brown.

—

MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS

games team conference overall back streak

VCU 12-2 19-5 – W4

George Mason 10-4 18-7 2 W1

UNC Wilmington 9-5 16-10 3 W2

William & Mary 9-5 13-11 3 L2

Northeastern 8-6 12-12 4 W5

Delaware 8-6 11-13 4 W1

Old Dominion 7-6 12-13 4.5 W1

Towson 5-9 9-15 7 L4

Hofstra 5-9 8-16 7 L1

James Madison 4-10 11-13 8 L2

Drexel 3-10 10-15 8.5 W1

Georgia State 3-11 6-18 9 L4