Game 15: VCU 81, Hofstra 68

Damaged Pride

@ Hampstead, N.Y

Box Score

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.

Game 14: VCU 77, Delaware 64

Back on Track

@The Siegel

Box Score

Brandon Rozzell scored a career-high 19 points and Virginia Commonwealth snapped a two-game losing streak by defeating Delaware 77-64 on Saturday at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart Siegel Center.

The Rams were without leading scorer and rebounder Larry Sanders, who sat on the bench serving a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul in Wednesday's game against Drexel.

The Rams built a 14-point first-half lead. But the Blue Hens scored on 11 of their final 15 possessions to cut the margin to 41-38 at halftime.

After shooting 52 percent in the first half, Delaware made only two of its first 15 shots in the second, allowing VCU to open a 59-44 lead with less then 10 minutes to go.

Delaware could get no closer than 10 points of the lead.

With the victory the Rams averted their first three-game CAA losing streak since the 2000-01 season. Delaware has now lost 14th consecutive conference road games.

The Blue Hens have never won at VCU.

Junior Brandon Rozzell led the way for the Rams with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. He also added three steals and three assists in the contest.

With the absence of Sanders in the middle junior Jamie Skeen and sophomore Bradford Burgess stepped up and posted double-doubles. Burgess finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Skeen added season-highs of 11 points and 10 boards.

Juwan Carter led all scorers with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting, while also handing out four assists. Alphonso Dawson and Jamelle Hagins each had nine points for Delaware. 



The Rams improved to 10-4 overall and 2-3 in the CAA while Delaware drops to 5-11 overall and 1-4 in conference play.

The Rams return to action on Tuesday, when they travel to New York to take on the Pride of Hofstra University. The game will be televised on ESPNU at 7 p.m.

Who's Got Next: Delawhere?

VCU (9-4, 1-3) looks to avoid its third consecutive CAA loss when they take on the Blue Hens of Delaware (5-10, 1-3) Saturday at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart Siegel Center.

The Rams will be without the services of junior Larry Sanders, who was suspended for Saturday’s contest for a flagrant foul in Wednesday night’s loss at Drexel.

Sanders, the Rams' leading scorer and rebounder, is tied for eighth in the CAA in scoring (14.7 ppg), fourth in rebounds (8.1) and second in blocked shots (3.2).

VCU head coach Shaka Smart will look to Bradford Burgess to continue his high level of play with the absence of Sanders. The sophomore scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed eight boards at Drexel Monday.

Delaware enters the game at VCU riding a 13-game losing streak in CAA road games. The Blue Hens last win came against Georgia State on Feb. 13, 2008.

The Hens are led by guard Alphonso Dawson who averaged 19.0 points and 10.5 rebounds as Delaware won back-to-back games for the first time this season last week . The junior tallied team-highs of 23 points and 14 rebounds in an 82-72 over-time win against Lafayette and had a team-best 15 points and seven boards as the Hens edged rival Drexel 62-58. He had 19 points and eight boards in a loss to W&M on Wednesday.

VCU leads the all-time series with Delaware, 12-3, and is a perfect 7-0 at the Siegel Center against the Blue Hens.

Larry Sanders is Suspended for Delaware Game

The Colonial Athletic Association announced Thursday night that Virginia Commonwealth’s Larry Sanders has been suspended for one game for a flagrant foul in Wednesday night’s loss at Drexel.

Sanders, the Rams' leading scorer and rebounder, will serve the suspension when the Rams play Delaware tomorrow at 2 p.m. at the Siegel Center.

According to Tim Pearrell’s report in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, game tape shows Sanders hit Drexel's Evan Neisler in the head as they were running down the court late in the first half. No foul was called at the time of the incident.

The officiating crew was unable to review the tousle until the start of the second due to a reply malfunction. At that point it was determined that Sanders had committed a flagrant foul but it was determined that is was too late to issue an automatic ejection.

Officials referred the matter to the CAA office and Tom Yeager, the CAA commissioner, issued the suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct after reviewing the tape yesterday.

Sanders is tied for eighth in the CAA in scoring (14.7 ppg), fourth in rebounds (8.1) and second in blocked shots (3.2).

Delaware (5-10, 1-3) has never won at VCU in seven tries.

Game 13: VCU 72, Drexel 75

Battered and Bruised

@The DAC

Box Score

Junior Joey Rodriquez couldn’t connect on an open 3-pointer as time expired as the Dragons (8-8, 3-1) defeated the defending conference champion Virginia Commonwealth (9-4, 1-3) 75-72 on Wednesday night

The Rams jumped to an early 19-14 advantage but were unable to match the physicality and long range shooting of the Dragons.

Gerald Colds and Chris Fouch each hit three treys in the first half to give Drexel a 42-36 lead at the intermission.

Colds and Fouch finished with 19 points each for Drexel. Fouch, who entered the night shooting 26.8% from long range on the season, went 5 for 7 from behind the line against the Rams.

The Dragons didn't trail in the second half, and led by as many as nine points. The Rams used an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 73-71 and missed a chance to tie when junior Larry Sanders went 1-for-2 with 14 seconds left on the clock.

Sophomore Bradford Burgess scored a career high 30 points on 9-of-14 shooting, along with eight rebounds and three assists for the Rams.

Sanders finished with 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Junior Brandon Rozzell added anther 10 for the Rams.

The defeat was only the second time VCU has lost on the road against Drexel.

VCU will return to CAA action on Saturday afternoon when they take on the Blue Hens of the University of Delaware. Tip is scheduled for i2 p.m.

Who’s Got Next: Drexel (7-8, 2-1)

VCU (9-3, 1-2) will look to get back on the track tonight when they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Dragons of Drexel (7-8, 2-1). Tonight marks the 15th meeting between the two since the Dragons joined the CAA prior to the 2000-01 season. VCU is currently on a six game wining streak against the Dragons dating back to February of 2005. The Rams won the last meeting by twenty-nine points.

Drexel is coming off a 72-57 win at Georgia State on Monday night. Jamie Harris poured in 21 of his career-high 32 points in the first half as the Dragons shot a season-high 68 percent in the first half. The win snapped a three-game losing streak and improved Drexel’s record to 7-8 overall and 2-1 in the CAA.

Junior Jamie Harris,leading leads the Dragons in scoring and ranks fifth in the CAA with 15.8 ppg He has five games with at least 20 points. Harris is also shooting .797 from the line and leads the team in both assists and steals.

The Dragons head coach Bruiser Flint has a 140-116 record at the school and an 86-61 mark in CAA play. He was named the CAA Coach of the Year in 2009 for the third time, making him just one of two three-time winners in CAA history.

VCU is one of the few teams in the CAA that has continued success in the DAC. The Rams are 5-1 in the building and have won five-straight games. The last Drexel win at the DAC came in the first meeting between the schools in January of 2002.

The Rams saw their four-game winning streak came to an end Monday night when CAA rival Northeastern knocked off the Rams in Richmond, 62- 57. The loss also snapped an 11-game home win streak for the Rams.

Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.

Game 12: VCU 57, NU 62

Home Away from Home

@The Siegel

Box Score

Northeastern (7-7, 2-1 CAA) managed to quiet the high powered VCU offense and Manny Adakogave gave the Rams fits en route to a 62-57 win at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

The win snaps an 11-game home winning streak for VCU (9-3, 1-2 CAA) as the Huskies are responsible for the only two Rams losses in their last 23 home games.

Manny Adako had a season-high 23 points on 11-of-14 shooting, while grabbing seven rebounds. Chaisson Allen provided the perimeter scoring for the Huskies, knocking down four three-pointers and finishing with 17 points and seven assists.

Juniors Larry Sanders and Joey Rodriguez led the way for the Rams with 12 points apiece. Rodriguez also had seven assists and picked up three steals, while Sanders grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots.

Northeastern open the game with a 7-0 lead thanks to four consecutive VCU turnovers. The Rams rallied with a 21-4 run sparked by 3 three point buckets from junior Brandon Rozzell And four consecutive points by junior Jamie Skeen.

Northeastern opened the second half with a 23-12 run capped off by a Matt Janning jumper to give the Huskies a 48-40 lead with just over 10 minutes to play. 



VCU would get with in one but the Huskies ability to control the break and keep the Rams in their half court offense proved to be enough down the stretch.

The Huskies shot an efficient 48.1 percent from the field, 55.6 percent from three-point range. Northeastern committed just 12 turnovers in the game.

The Rams are in the midst of stretch that will see them play 4 CAA games in 8 days. VCU will travel to Philadelphia on Wednesday to battle the Dragons of Drexel University at 7 p.m.