December 19, 2009

RAMS SURVIVE FOR 78-77 ROAD WIN AT TULANE
Box Score

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Chalk this one up in the “wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it” category.

The Virginia Commonwealth University men’s basketball battled a tough Tulane squad and hung for a 78-77 road victory at Fogelman Arena on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s a win, that’s the good thing,” Head Coach Shaka Smart said. “I really thought we took a big step forward defensively in the win over Richmond last week. However, I thought tonight we took a step backward which allowed Tulane to get back in the game and make it close.”

It wasn’t always close, as the Rams once held a 17-point advantage in the second half thanks to a ball-hawking defense that forced six turnovers in the first four minutes of the period.

Some on-ball screens and a defensive switch to a 2-3 zone by Tulane gave the Black & Gold some problems and ignited a 13-4 Tulane run to close out the game, including nine points from point guard Kevin Sims.

“It helps when they start making some of the shots they were missing in the first half, but our defense certainly allowed some that to happen,” Smart added. “I thought Dave [Dickerson] made a great move to go to the 2-3 zone when they have primarily been playing man-to-man all year. It surprised us originally and definitely caused some issues since we didn’t have a good 2-3 zone lineup on the floor at that point.”

The first half was just as tough with the Green Wave coming out firing behind 12 points from Aaron Holmes. Tulane held an advantage for much of the first 20 minutes.

With Tulane leading 28-27 with 3:21 remaining before halftime, freshman Darius Theus (Portsmouth, Va.) sparked a 7-0 run with an old-fashioned three-point play thanks to a nice assist by sophomore Jay Gavin (Seat Pleasant, Md.). He then picked up a steal and started a fastbreak that ended with a layup from junior Ed Nixon (St. Petersburg, Fla.).

The lead would grow to nine before two free-throws by Kendall Timmons with less than a second to play in the half made it 39-32 heading into the break.

Sanders led the way offensively with 16 points and nine rebounds. He was just one rebound short of his fifth-straight double-double. Sophomore Bradford Burgess (Midlothian, Va.) was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field for 11 points, while junior Jamie Skeen (Charlotte, N.C.) chipped in 10 points in his first appearance for the Black & Gold.

Junior Joey Rodriguez (Oviedo, Fla.) finished with seven points and eight assists.

The Green Wave had four players in double-figures led by Aaron Holmes who registered a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

VCU has a nine-day break before returning to the hardwood on Dec. 29 when they take on the Pirates of East Carolina in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off at the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.