UNC Wilmington Basketball Team Can’t Hold Off VCU

February 28th, 2008 · No Comments

The Seahawk basketball team will host Old Dominion on Saturday as they look to regroup and get things back together after back-to-back losses. With a win they could finish as high as second, but with a loss, they could slip to fifth, which would prevent them from earning a first round bye. They would then need to win four games in four days to make the Big Dance. RICHMOND, Va. – Junior playmaker Eric Maynor led four players in double figures with 16 points and host VCU used three consecutive treys from a trio of freshmen midway through the second half to pull away from UNC Wilmington, 72-58, clinching their second straight Colonial Athletic Association’s regular season men’s basketball championship Wednesday night at the Alltel Pavilion.

The Rams won their third game in a row and seventh in eight outings to hike their record to 22-6 overall and 14-3 in the loop. VCU clinched the No. 1 seed in next week’s CAA Championship that gets under way Friday at the Richmond Coliseum.

The Seahawks dropped their second in a row to fall to 18-12 and 11-6 in the conference. UNCW, tied for third place with Old Dominion, can nail down a bye in the CAA Tournament with a win over the Monarchs Saturday in the regular season finale for both teams at Trask Coliseum.

Maynor poured in 14 of his total in the first half and wound up connecting on 7-for-14 from the floor. The odds-on favorite to win CAA Player-of-the-Year also had seven rebounds and six assists. Senior guard Jamal Shuler added 15 points, senior forward Michael Anderson scored 12 and freshman guard Joey Rodriguez chipped in 10.

Senior guard T.J. Carter scored 18 to pace the Seahawks, who shot a chilly 36.5 percent. Senior forward Todd Hendley contributed 12 and senior center Vladimir Kuljanin collected 10 points and eight rebounds.

VCU turned a one-point lead at halftime into a 45-36 cushion over the first eight minutes of the second half. Senior forward Michael Anderson slammed home a dunk and Rodriguez fired in a 3-pointer at 13:11 as the Rams forged ahead, 45-36.

The lead stretched to 49-39 on a bank shot on the right side by Shuler at 9:04 before the Seahawks managed to cut into the margin. A conventional three-point play by Carter and a putback by Kuljanin sliced the deficit to 49-44 with 7:55 left before the Rams dialed long distance to put the game away.

Rodriguez and fellow freshmen Lance Kearse and Brandon Rozzell canned three straight triples to increase the lead to 60-44, VCU’s largest lead of the contest, as the Rams sealed their 12th win in 13 home games this season.

UNCW controlled most of the first half before VCU used a strong finish to close out the opening period with a slim 30-29 advantage. Maynor was a one-man wrecking crew for the Rams, pumping in 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting and adding a team-high three rebounds.

The Seahawks reeled off nine straight points to grab an 18-12 lead on a shot by Kuljanin in the paint with 10:43 left, and the lead swelled to 27-18 when reserve guard Josh Sheets banged in a triple from the right wing at 5:12.

The Rams answered, however, with a 12-2 spurt and to enjoy a one-point edge at the break. Trailing by nine points, Maynor got things going with a trey on the left side at 3:50 and senior forward Wil Fameni’s short jumper on the right baseline with five seconds left gave VCU a narrow lead at intermission.

The Seahawks wrap up the regular season Saturday with a 4 p.m. start against Old Dominion at Trask Coliseum. The Rams travel down I-64 to battle state rival William & Mary at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES: VCU shot 41.9 percent from the field, including 7-for-12 behind the arc in the second half…UNCW had just seven assists on 19 buckets…The Rams completed a sweep of the regular season series with the Seahawks…UNCW’s starting guard trio of T.J. Carter, Chad Tomko and Daniel Fountain went a combined 9-for-30 from the floor…VCU won the battle of the boards, 39-33…The Seahawks finished with a 4-5 record in road games this season.

UNC Wilmington vs. VCU

Feb. 27, 2008 - VCU Post-Game Quotes

UNCW Head Coach Benny Moss:

“You want to win every game. This is a tough place to play. In the first half, we did some

things well, but in the second half we got away from packing it in and got away from our

half-court offense.

“We guarded Eric Maynor much better this time, but VCU was very, very good,

particularly on the defensive end. They took us out of some of the things we wanted to

do. Our execution left a little bit to be desired. In the second half, we didn’t attack

enough. We held them to 40 percent shooting, but they kicked up their defense another

notch.

“We had some good looks and didn’t make them. You don’t get them that often and we

had a tendency to rush them.

“Give them credit. They denied the ball to our point guard. Their pressure defense is a big

factor in their half-court defense. They took Daniel Fountain’s three-point shooting away.

“We just hope we get another shot at them. We’re going to be just fine. We can’t let this

one affect us. We’ll be ready to go against ODU on Saturday.”

Official Basketball Box Score UNC Wilmington vs VCU 2/27/08 7 p.m. at Richmond, Va. (Siegel Center)  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: UNC Wilmington 18-12 (11-6 CAA)                           TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS ## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN 32 Kuljanin, Vladimir.. f  5-8    0-0    0-0    3  5  8   1  10  1  3  1  0  31 41 Hendley, Todd....... f  3-10   1-2    5-6    1  2  3   4  12  1  2  0  0  30 02 Carter, T.J......... g  5-15   1-3    7-7    1  6  7   1  18  2  1  1  0  36 04 Fountain, Daniel.... g  1-5    0-4    3-4    0  4  4   4   5  0  1  2  1  32 05 Tomko, Chad......... g  3-10   1-5    1-1    0  1  1   3   8  3  5  0  2  36 03 Jeralds, Darion.....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  1   5 12 Sheets, Josh........    1-1    1-1    0-0    0  2  2   0   3  0  0  0  0  12 21 Lacy, Dominique.....    1-3    0-1    0-2    0  4  4   3   2  0  1  0  1  18    TEAM................                            3  3    Totals..............   19-52   4-16  16-20   5 28 33  16  58  7 13  4  5 200  TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-25 40.0%   2nd Half:  9-27 33.3%   Game: 36.5%  DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  3-9  33.3%   2nd Half:  1-7  14.3%   Game: 25.0%   REBS F Throw % 1st Half:  6-6  100 %   2nd Half: 10-14 71.4%   Game: 80.0%    3   -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: VCU 22-6 (14-3 CAA)                           TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS ## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN 02 Fameni, Wil......... f  2-3    0-0    0-0    0  2  2   0   4  0  0  0  0  17 15 Anderson, Michael... f  4-13   1-4    3-4    1  3  4   2  12  4  1  0  0  26 03 Maynor, Eric........ g  7-14   1-3    1-1    2  5  7   3  16  6  6  0  0  38 12 Rodriguez, Joey..... g  3-6    2-3    2-2    1  3  4   2  10  4  1  0  1  26 24 Shuler, Jamal....... g  4-11   2-6    5-6    1  3  4   1  15  1  1  0  2  37 01 Sanders, Larry......    1-4    0-0    0-0    3  6  9   3   2  0  0  3  1  20 04 Smith, Gerard.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0  0+ 05 Rozzell, Brandon....    2-4    2-3    0-0    0  1  1   1   6  0  0  0  1  16 11 Pishchalnikov, K....    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   2 23 Kearse, Lance.......    3-5    1-2    0-1    2  2  4   2   7  0  1  1  1  13 42 Gwynn, T.J..........    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   1 50 Nixon, Ed...........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   2   0  0  0  0  0   4    TEAM................                            1  1    Totals..............   26-62   9-21  11-14  10 29 39  16  72 15 10  4  6 200  TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-31 41.9%   2nd Half: 13-31 41.9%   Game: 41.9%  DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-9  22.2%   2nd Half:  7-12 58.3%   Game: 42.9%   REBS F Throw % 1st Half:  2-3  66.7%   2nd Half:  9-11 81.8%   Game: 78.6%    1   -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Reggie Greenwood, Jerry Heater, William Bush Technical fouls: UNC Wilmington-None. VCU-Sanders, Larry. Attendance: 7241 Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total UNC Wilmington................   29   29  -   58 VCU...........................   30   42  -   72

VCU clinches second straight CAA regular-season title with the victory.

- Courtesy UNCW Sports Information