Rams avenge loss at UD, seize first place

On Jan. 3, the VCU Rams lost a heartbreaker to the Delaware Blue Hens. A 14-0 run in the second half of that game sealed the fate of what was VCU’s first conference loss of the season.

Wednesday night, the Blue Hens and the Rams locked up again, and this time VCU was not fooling around. VCU went on to win 78-67. Along with a Georgia State upset win over Northeastern, the Rams took over sole possession of first in the CAA.

This is the first time in three tries that the Rams have been able to win after a Northeastern loss.

“It’s been going on the whole year,” senior point guard Eric Maynor (Raeford, N.C./Westover) said. “It’s meant to be for us, that’s what I think. It’s right there in our hands, the only thing we have to do is take it.”

The Rams did not make it look very easy in the first half.

After falling behind 7-2 early, the Blue Hens fought back with an 11-0 run. They did not trail for the rest of the half; they shot a blistering 55 percent from the floor.

Another trend became a black mark on the stat sheet for the Rams; As they were losing the points-in-the-paint battle, 14-0, with seven minutes left in the half.

“We just weren’t being physical. Their post players are pretty good,” said Larry Sanders (Ft. Pierce, Fla./Port St. Lucie). “It’s been an issue the last couple games. We went in there, got a little bit physical, got some rebounds and that helped us out in the paint.”

The Rams fell behind by as much as 11 before they closed the first half on a 12-4 run from the 4:37 mark.

The second half was a completely different story than the first.

The lead changed hands seven times, and the game looked like it would go down to the wire.

But with solid defense, which held the Blue Hens to only two field goals in the final nine minutes, and the combination of Maynor and Sanders taking over the game, the Rams were able to pull away.

“This was a character win. In the second half there was much more of a sense of urgency,” VCU coach Anthony Grant said. “It was about our basketball team, about the name on the front of the jersey and that we have to be able to sacrifice and understand what we’ve committed ourselves to do. We did that in the second half.”

Maynor finished with 30 points and 10 assists on the night, while Sanders finished two points shy of his career scoring-high with 19 points. He also had 16 rebounds.

Delaware put four players in double-figures. Marc Egerson scored 18 and Jawan Carter had 15. Both Brian Johnson and Alphonso Dawson scored 13.

The Rams have a quick turnaround as they left BWI Airport early Thursday morning bound for Reno, Nev., for their ESPN BracketBusters game against Nevada on Friday at 9 p.m.

By the numbers

Delaware (11-17, 5-11) Ledsome 4, Egerson 18, Carter 15, Johnson 13, Dawson 13, Boney 4, Santiago 0, Pegg 0. 25 8-10 67. 3-pointers Egerson 3, Carter 2, Johnson 3, Dawson.

VCU (19-8, 12-4) Sanders 19, Pishchalnikov 11, Maynor 30, Rodriguez 9, Burgess 0, Rozzell 2, Gwynn 2, Nixon 5.28 16-25 78. 3-pointers: Maynor 4, Rodriguez, Nixon.