Damaged Pride
Junior forward Larry Sanders scored career-high 31 points to lead the VCU Men's Basketball team to an 81-68 win over a shorthanded Hofstra team on Tuesday evening at the Mack Sports Complex in Hampstead, N.Y.
Sanders finished 11-of-13 from the field and 9-of-12 from the fre ethrow line, while grabbing five boards and blocking three shots. Junior Joey Rodriguez was equally impressive scoring 21 points and handing out six assists.
Junior Ed Nixon scored all 11 of his points in the first while Kirill Pishchalnikov proved to be a force down low with 8 points and 5 rebounds off the bench for VCU.
VCU closed out the first half on a 9-0 run and holding the Pride to just a point for the last 3:47to take a 40-25 halftime lead.
Coming out of the break, Hofstra would chip away at the Ram lead and close within seven points, but Sanders and Rodriguez connected on back-to-back jumpers to push the lead back to 13 with 6:08 left in the game.
The Rams closed out the game going 7-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes to hold on for the 13-point win.
With the win, VCU improves to 11-4 overall and levels its record at 3-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association. Hofstra, which dressed only seven scholarship players due to injuries falls to 9-9 overall and 2-4 in the CAA.
The Rams are now within a half game of William and Mary and the CAA lead.
Preseason All-CAA pick Charles Jenkins led the Pride in scoring with 23 points. He shot just 7-of-18 from the field and turned the ball over seven times.
Cornelius Vines finished with 17 points and three assists, while Miklos Szabo was the third Pride player in double-figures with 12 points.
The Rams will be in action again on Saturday when they travel to ATL to take on Georgia State. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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