Rams lose in Reno

With both of its starting big men on the bench, having fouled out, VCU coughed up a 10-point second half lead in Reno: Nevada 71, VCU 70. Armon Johnson hit a short, go-ahead jumper with 28 seconds left to lift Nevada past VCU on Friday night in an ESPNU BracketBusters match-up at Lawlor Events Center. Johnson, […]

February 20, 2009; 11:22 PM • by FTRea

With both of its starting big men on the bench, having fouled out, VCU coughed up a 10-point second half lead in Reno: Nevada 71, VCU 70.

Armon Johnson hit a short, go-ahead jumper with 28 seconds left to lift Nevada past VCU on Friday night in an ESPNU BracketBusters match-up at Lawlor Events Center. Johnson, who finished with 13 points, drove the right side of the lane before pulling up from point-blank range to give the Wolfpack (16-10) a 68-67 advantage.

Eric Maynor led all scorers with 28 points and five assists for the Rams (19-9). He knocked down 14-of-15 free throws, tying a school record for makes in a single game. Freshman Bradford Burgess added 10 points, while sophomore Larry Sanders contributed nine points and nine rebounds for VCU.

Nevada trailed by as many as 10 points in the game, and was looking up at a 64-56 deficit with 4:38 to play. However, Fields buried one of his three 3-pointers and Cook successfully converted a traditional three-point play to trim the VCU lead to 64-62 with 3:19 remaining.

A short time later, Maynor sliced through the lane for a layup to push the margin to 67-64 with 1:40 showing.

But Johnson drilled a pull-up jumper on Nevada’s next possession to bring the Wolfpack within a point, and the Rams went scoreless on their ensuing opportunity.

Nevada committed just nine turnovers and outrebounded VCU, 20-13, in the second half.

The Rams return to Virginia and will meet Colonial Athletic Association-rival James Madison on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. in Harrisonburg.