November 13, 2006
BOX SCORE
FARMVILLE, Va. -- Longwood University dropped a hard-fought 75-63 men’s basketball decision to visiting VCU Monday night in Willett Hall; a game witnessed by a full-capacity crowd of 2,522 in Farmville. The Rams (1-0) won their opening game under the direction of first-year head coach Anthony Grant, led by sophomore Eric Maynor with a team-high 15 points. Senior Maurice Sumter/Alexandria (T.C. Williams) led the Lancers (1-1) with a game-high 22 points. Longwood will play again on Wednesday, November 15, on the road at Norfolk State beginning at 7 p.m..
Longwood trailed 38-24 at halftime, and VCU took its largest lead of the night at 52-31 with 14:30 remaining on a layup from junior transfer Wil Fameni. The Lancers, however, refused to quit and battled back to within 58-44 at 8:21 with a 13-6 run that included an offensive rebound and dunk by Sumter. Longwood continued its momentum and closed to within 69-58 with 2:31 left as senior Clayton Morgan/Brooklyn, N.Y. (Fashion Institute) scored eight quick points. Sumter followed with five-straight points for the Lancers who closed to within 73-63 but only 36-seconds remained and Maynor made two free throws for VCU at 0:26 to provide for the final margin.
VCU opened the contest with a 17-6 run just 6:05 into the game as Maynor (4), senior B.A. Walker (4), and junior Michael Anderson (6) combined for 14 quick points. The Rams extended the margin to 25-9 at 10:58 as junior Jamal Shuler tallied five points, including a three-pointer. Longwood managed to reduce the deficit to 27-17 with 7:10 left before the intermission as freshman Kevin Swecker/Manchester, Md. (Mount Saint Joseph) came off the bench to make back-to-back three-point field goals. Walker, however, answered with consecutive three-pointers of his own to push the Rams back ahead 35-19 at 3:31 as the visitors led by 14 points (38-24) at the break.
Sumter finished with a game-high 22 points (9-13 FG, 2-3 3FG), 2-3 FT), adding five rebounds, three assists, and three blocks for Longwood. Morgan added 14 points and five rebounds, while junior Lamar Barrett/Providence, R.I. (St. Andrews) added his second career double-double with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Lancers. Swecker contributed a career-high nine points for the hosts. LU shot 39% (24-61) from the field, including 36% (5-14) on three-point field goals, and 63% (10-16) at the free throw line. The Lancers and Rams tied in rebounding at 39-39, and hosts finished with nine blocks.
Maynor finished with 15 points to lead five double-figure scorers for VCU, adding a game-high six assists. Other scoring by the visitors included Anderson (13), Fameni (12), Walker (10), and Shuler (10). Anderson also had seven rebounds, and Walker had five steals. The Rams shot 48% (28-59) from the field, including 25% (4-16) on three-pointers, and 54% (15-28) at the line while making Coach Grant a winner in his collegiate head coaching debut.
It was also the largest crowd to ever witness a college basketball game at Longwood with the full-capacity attendance of 2,522 in Willett Hall on-campus in Farmville.
