The Third Wheel Leads Rams to Victory

The VCU Rams came into the game with junior forward Larry Sanders and junior guard Joey Rodriguez leading the herd. While the top two scored 17 points apiece, the Rams were helped by their third factor, junior guard Brandon Rozzell, as the fifth-seeded Rams topped the fourth-seeded George Mason Patriots men’s basketball team 75-60 in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament quarterfinals at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Richmond.

Mason falls to 17-14 overall and has failed to pick up a conference tournament win since the 2005 season. Improving to 22-8 overall, the Rams advance to the semifinals after defeating the Delaware Blue Hens on Friday and the Patriots on Saturday afternoon.

Sanders continued his dominance against Mason a year after dominating inside in last season’s CAA Tournament championship game. With 17 points and 12 rebounds on Saturday, Sanders recorded his 13th double-double this season and added four blocks. Rodriguez, who scored 24 points with six 3-pointers in last month’s 82-77 overtime loss to Mason in Fairfax, tallied 17 points and a game-high five assists.

But the key player of the game was Rozzell, who was 0-of-2 from the field in the first half. Trailing 35-32 at halftime, the Rams scorched the Mason defense for 43 points in the second half. Rozzell, the team leader with 47 treys coming into the game, went on a second half rampage from behind the arc with four 3-pointers.

“I was looking at the stat sheet for the first time; [Rozzell] had 14 points for the game, whereas it seemed he had 30 because every shot was huge and every shot was where we needed it most, he took the shots at the exact right time,” said Rams Head Coach Shaka Smart.

On the other hand, the Patriots were not able to overcome their worst month of the season. Wrapping up February with a 2-6 record, the Patriots were looking for a fresh start in the postseason.

“I told the team after the game I thought we were really building something very good in January and somehow lost that magic,” said Patriots Head Coach Jim Larranaga. “We were 8-1 [in the conference] at the time, had four or five guys in double figures every night, and played good team defense. As February rolled around, I don’t know if it was fatigue or if we had a young team, or we just lost our focus or shooting touch, or quite frankly, the opponents we played.”

From the get-go, the Patriots established a quick-paced offense as sophomore guard Andre Cornelius drilled a 3-pointer from the perimeter to open the game. Mason shot 48.1 percent from the field in the first half after having battled through the Rams’ full-court pressure. Sophomore forward Ryan Pearson, who had a career day with 22 points, was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field for 13 points. Mason fell behind 13-7 at the 16:29 mark, but used an 8-0 run two minutes later to take its first lead since Cornelius’ 3-pointer at the start.

Freshman forward Luke Hancock was also a major factor as he scored 11 points in the first half. For one half, Mason had held its ground, playing as the home team in the visiting team’s own homecourt.

The last time the two teams met in the CAA Tournament was in the championship last season when VCU routed Mason 71-50. With the teams meeting for the fourth time in the conference tournament, this was the first time the two faced off prior to the championship game. The Rams defeated Mason in 2004, 2007, and last season in the three conference title games and continued their postseason dominance over Mason as VCU exploded on offense in the second half.

The Patriots and Rams battled back-and-forth through the midway point of the second half, but when Rozzell started to fire away 3-pointers, the momentum shifted in favor of the Rams. When Rozzell emerged in the second half, the team started to focus on guarding the perimeter. Nevertheless, Rozzell continually made shots from long distance.

“He had some really tough shots, never had any wide-open looks; he just was able to set up and knock them down,” said Hancock.

Rozzell drained a 3-pointer after Pearson’s dunk tied the game at 48. Down 53-51 with 7:23 left in regulation, junior guard Ed Nixon tied the game with a jumpshot; after freshman guard Sherrod Wright missed a layup, Rozzell pulled up for a 3-pointer to give the Rams a 56-53 lead. Rozzell, who posted all 14 points in the second half, scored nine consecutive points in a span of two minutes, giving the Rams a 62-55 lead; when things could get any worse, Rodriguez got fouled after attempting a 3-pointer.

After Rodriguez made all three free throws, Rozzell attempted another 3-pointer, but his shot rattled in and out, disappointing the hometown crowd, which had rooted for the Richmond native. Towards the end of the game, Rozzell missed a wide-open dunk, but by then, the Rams already held a substantial lead and had all of the momentum.

“I can’t miss another [dunk] like that for the rest of my career at VCU,” said Rozzell.

Even with the missed dunk, VCU shot 59.3 percent from the field in the second half.

Sophomore forward Mike Morrison brought the game back to single-digits at 65-57 on a slam dunk with 3:55 left, but Rodriguez prevented Mason from mounting a comeback with a jumpshot. With the season dwindling for Mason, the Patriots were in desperation mode and came up empty-handed. Mason had its brief tournament come to a close with a last-second dunk from Wright.

While Pearson flourished with a career-high 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting, junior guard Cam Long struggled to redeem his late-season collapse with a measly four points on 2-of-12 shooting performance. After having four 20-point games in the second half of January, Long went ice cold thereafter. In the past nine games, Long shot just 21-of-88 and failed to reach double-digits in five of the games.

The Patriots await a decision to whether they will have the opportunity to play in the National Invitational Tournament, while the Rams take on the top-seeded Old Dominion Monarchs, who ran past the Towson Tigers 86-56 earlier in the day, on Sunday at 3 p.m.