Hempstead, NY - Junior forward Larry Sanders had a 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.
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 to freshman guard Chaz Williams (Brooklyn, NY) and freshman forward David Imes (Brooklyn, NY) falls to 9-9 overall and 2-4 in the CAA.
Junior guard Charles Jenkins (Queens, NY) led Hofstra with 23 points and seven assists, while senior guard Cornelius Vines (Syracuse, NY) added 17 points and became the 16th player in school history to reach 100 career three-pointers, which he accomplished in just a season and a half after transferring from Iowa Lakes Community College last year.
VCU closed out the first half on a 9-0 run to take a 40-25 lead into intermission. Junior guard Joey Rodriguez started the run with back-to-back baskets, and closed it out by feeding Terrance Saintil for a lay-up just before the buzzer.
Hofstra chipped away in the second half and closed within seven points at 48-41 on a put-back lay-up from junior forward Greg Washington (Centereach, NY). Senior forward Kirill Pishchalnikov hit two foul shots to start a 6-0 run, as Sanders and Rodriguez followed with jumpers to push the lead to 54-41. Vines' 100th career three-pointer pulled Hofstra back within 54-46 with 11:27 to go, but VCU responded with an 11-4 run to take a 65-50 lead with 6:08 left on a lay-up from Sanders.
The Pride got as close as eight points with 1:30 left as junior guard Nathaniel Lester (Brooklyn, NY) scored on a lay-up to make the score 74-66. Rodriguez, though, was 5-6 down the stretch at the foul line and Sanders knocked down two as well to end any Pride comeback hopes.
Sanders shot 11-13 from the floor and 9-12 at the foul line on his way to a career-high 31 points. Rodriguez finished with 21 points for the Rams, while Ed Nixon added 11 off the bench, all in the first half. Senior forward Miklos Szabo (Szeghalom, Hungary) chipped in with 12 points for Hofstra on 6-8 shooting, while Washington had six blocks off the Hofstra bench.
The Pride will next be in action when it travels to William & Mary on Saturday for a 7 p.m. contest.
