The chant of “Overrated!” echoed throughout the Mack Sports Complex Saturday afternoon every time Eric Maynor (Raeford, N.C./Westover) stepped to the free throw line.
But the CAA’s leading scorer appeared unfazed and continued to put the ball in the basket. When the dust settled, Maynor finished with half of his team’s points in a 66-62 win at Hofstra.
“Eric stepped up, took the team on his back and made some huge plays,” said VCU head coach Anthony Grant.
VCU was coming off a loss to Northeastern, and Hofstra had won four straight games. Once again the Rams were faced with a double-digit deficit but used a 19-8 run to open the second to take the lead.
Tom Pecora became the latest coach to praise Maynor and annoint him the league’s best player.
“It was his (Maynor’s) night to shine,” Pecora said.
Nearly three minutes into the action, Kirill Pishchalnikov
(Maykop, Russia/MGGTK AGU) scored the game’s first points. VCU held that 2-0 lead only until Hofstra’s next possession, when Charles Jenkins tied the score. The Pride held control for much of the remainder of the game.
The Pride was poised to hold a double-digit halftime lead, but Cornelius Vines fouled Maynor with two seconds on the clock. Maynor connected on all three free throws and the Rams trailed 36-29 at the break.
Early foul trouble put the Rams in a dangerous position. The team already was playing with just three reserves, and Terrance Saintil (North Miami, Fla./Monsignor Pace) picked up his fourth foul seconds before halftime.
Saintil and Larry Sanders (Fort Pierce, Fla./Port St. Lucie) each finished with four fouls, and Pishchalnikov had three.
Grant stood the end of the court applauding his players as they entered the locker room at the end of the game, as the Rams won despite close calls in the final minutes.
“I was a little concerned at the end . some of the calls weren’t made,” Grant said. “There were a couple of loose balls that didn’t seem to go our way, but we’ll evaluate it. I don’t deal in the hypothetical. We won the game.”
Pecora also said he would check the tape to look at some of the calls.
“For some of the time, it felt like we were in Richmond,” Pecora said. “What I meant by Richmond was the whistle, not the crowd.”
The game came for the Rams on the heels of their game against Northeastern in which a combined 48 fouls were called.
The Rams were 8-of-24 from the field in the first half and struggled to find a rhythm. In his postgame comments, Grant revealed that at least seven of the Rams players were battling symptoms of the flu.
Against Northeastern, Joey Rodriguez (Oviedo, Fla./Lake Howell) did not connect from beyond the arc and fired up an air ball during a late possession. Rodriguez scored only five points at Hofstra, but hit a 3-pointer to give his team a lead with seven minutes left to play. The shot could boost his confidence down the stretch of the season.
“I told him before he even took it (the shot), ‘You’re not giving it to us on both ends,’ ” Maynor said. After the shot, “I said, ‘Thank you.'”
By the numbers
VCU (16-6, 9-2 CAA)
Sanders 6, Pishchalnikov 4, Maynor 33, Rodriguez 5, Burgess 11, Saintil 0, Rozzell 6, Nixon 1. Totals: 22 17-17-24 66. 3-pointers: Maynor 3, Rodriguez 1, Burgess 1.
Hofstra (14-8, 6-5 CAA)
Urbutis 2, Townes 4, Lester 12, G. Johnson 2, Jenkins 22, Sestokas 0, Dennison 9, Vines 5, Washington 4, D. Johnson 2. Totals: 18 23-28 62. 3-pointers: Jenkins 2, Dennison 1.