Rams back atop CAA

On Wednesday night, with the entire conference in 7 p.m. games, VCU ground out an important victory playing on the Rams home court at the Siegel Center. The visiting Blue Hens from Delaware kept it close until the last few minutes in the game, when the Rams pulled away by converting enough of their free throws […]

February 18, 2009; 9:44 PM • by FTRea

On Wednesday night, with the entire conference in 7 p.m. games, VCU ground out an important victory playing on the Rams home court at the Siegel Center.

The visiting Blue Hens from Delaware kept it close until the last few minutes in the game, when the Rams pulled away by converting enough of their free throws to pad their working-margin lead: VCU 78, Delaware 67.

Eric Maynor has pulled within 47 points of Kendrick Warren’s all-time scoring record for VCU

With its win, and coupled with a Northeastern (16-10, 11-5 in CAA) loss at Georgia St., VCU (19-8, 12-4 in CAA) has moved ahead of Northeastern in the CAA.

With two conference games remaining, for the time being, the Rams are alone at the top of the league’s standings.

Before a crowd of 5,137 VCU’s two highest profile players turned in double-double, crowd-pleasing performances. Senior guard Eric Maynor scored 30 points and racked up 10 assists in 40 minutes on the floor.

Sophomore forward/center Larry Sanders added 19 points, 15 rebounds and two blocks in 31 minutes of play. Sanders managed to be active and effective without getting in foul trouble. In the last month that’s been key to whether VCU wins or not.

In the first half the hot Blue Hens were on target with 12 of their first 16 field goal attempts, which staked them to a 30-19 lead. The Rams closed it to a two point-deficit, 38-36, at the half. In the second half the Rams defense, much of the time a 2-3 zone, gradually cooled off the Hens.

Senior guard/forward Marc Egerson paced the Delaware offense with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Maynor’s seventh 30-point game of his career moved him closer to Kendrick Warren’s record for most career points for VCU.

Warren (1990-94) scored 1,858 points. Maynor, who already holds the Rams’ all-time record for assists, now has 1,811 points.

Through 27 games this season Maynor is averaging a CAA-leading 22.9 points-per-game. With three regular season games remaining and at least one post-season game assured, Maynor will need to average just 12 points per game to pass Warren.

This season Maynor has treated Rams fans all manner of acrobatic shot-making derring-do. More of his shots from the field, in recent games, have been oddly-timed floaters and other quirky, off-balance shots. When they fall at a crucial point in a game the crowd loves it. Those shots have become a legitimate part of Maynor’s arsenal.

Yet, after the game a few of those regular fans could be heard wondering aloud if Maynor has begun to overuse the circus shots. Is Maynor looking to use them too much?

Next up for VCU is a trip to Reno to meet the team currently ranked second in the Western Athletic Conference the University of Nevada (15-10, 8-4 in WAC) for a Fri., Feb. 20, tilt, as part of the ESPN BracketBusters promotion (9 p.m. televised by ESPNU). It’s the first meeting for the two schools.

CAA Standings

VCU 12-4 in CAA (19-8 overall)

GMU 11-5 in CAA (18-8 overall)

Northeastern 11-5 in CAA (16-10 overall)

Hofstra 10-6 in CAA (18-9 overall)

ODU 10-6 in CAA (17-9 overall)

Drexel 10-6 in CAA (14-11 overall)

JMU 9-7 in CAA (17-11 overall)

Georgia St. 7-9 in CAA (9-18 overall)

Delaware 5-11 in CAA (11-17 overall)

Wm & Mary 4-12 in CAA (9-17 overall)

Towson 4-12 in CAA (9-19 overall)

UNCW 3-13 in CAA (6-22 overall)

Following the conclusion of the regular season the CAA tournament will be held at the Richmond Coliseum, Mar. 6-9. The first four teams in the standings then will receive byes into the second round.

– Words and photo by F.T. Rea

February 18, 2009 9:44 PM 0