MENS BASKETBALL- Rams clinch regular-season title on senior night

On senior night, it was a group effort that
propelled the VCU Rams to consecutive CAA
regular-season championships and the top seed
in the CAA tournament. Eric Maynor (Raeford,
N.C./Westover) led four Rams scorers in double
figures with 16 points as VCU halted UNC
Wilmington’s four-game winning streak with a
72-58 win Wednesday night in front of a crowd
of 7,241 at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

“We set out with that (the regular-season
title) being a goal in the beginning of the
year and to see it come to fruition today is a
good feeling,” said VCU head coach Anthony
Grant.

The Rams cut down the nets following the
victory, much to the surprise of the players.
Grant normally advises his players to move past
each game and focus on the next opponent.
However, Grant understood what the victory
meant to his team.

“It’s not every day that you win a championship.
We’ve got seven guys just experiencing
college basketball. It’s very, very special when
you can play for a championship,” he said.

With the win, VCU is guaranteed a spot in
the NIT if it were not to qualify or be selected
to participate in the NCAA Tournament.

It looked as if the Seahawks from Wilmington
would spoil the night honoring Jamal Shuler
(Jacksonville, N.C./Jacksonville), Michael Anderson
(Virginia Beach/Landstown) and Wil
Fameni (Douala, Cameroon/Amelia Academy).
Wilmington led for most of the first half and
went on a 15-6 run between the 15:38 and 5:09
mark in the first half to build a 9-point lead
at 27-18. However, VCU ended the half on a
12-2 run, keyed by eight points from Maynor
and a layup from Fameni with five seconds
left in the half to put the Rams ahead 30-29.
It was the first lead for the Rams in nearly 14
minutes, and they would hold it for the rest
of the game.

VCU built its lead in the second half, peaking
out at 16, 60-44, with 4:53 remaining. The
Rams didn’t do it all with offense as they held
Wilmington to 36.5 percent shooting, including
only 25 percent from 3-point range.

“In the second half, I felt we didn’t attack
enough . but it’s a credit to them, they kicked
their defense up another notch,” Seahawks
coach Benny Moss said.

The Seahawks were able to pull back within
nine with a 7-0 run with four minutes to play,but the Rams answered with a 7-0 run
of their own to push the lead back to
double-digits.

Shuler finished with 15 points, Anderson
scored 12 and Fameni had 4 points and two
rebounds in their final home game. Freshman
Joey Rodriguez (Oviedo, Fla./Lake
Howell) finished with 10 points and four
assists. Maynor added six assists and seven
rebounds to his point total, but also turned
the ball over six times.

The Rams finish out the regular season
Saturday night against William and Mary
in Williamsburg.

—

By the numbers

UNCW (11-6, 18-12): Kuljanin
10, Hendley 12, Carter 18,
Fountain 5, Tomko 8, Jeralds 0,
Sheets 3, Lacy 2. Totals: 19 16-20
58. 3-pointers: Hendley, Carter,
Tomko, Sheets.

VCU (14-3 CAA, 22-6): Fameni
4, Anderson 12, Maynor 16, Rodriguez
10, Shuler 15, Sanders 2,
Smith 0, Rozzell 6, Pishchalnikov
0, Kearse 7, Gwynn 0, Nixon 0.
Totals: 26 11-14 72. 3-pointers:
Rodriguez 2, Shuler 2, Rozzell 2,
Anderson, Maynor, Kearse.