WALKER’S 24 LEADS RAMS PAST PATRIOTS, 75-62
Black and Gold hit 12 three-pointers in victory
1-24-07
Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. – The sweet stroke of senior B.A. Walker keyed a big road win as the Virginia Commonwealth University’s men’s basketball team downed George Mason University, 75-62, on Wednesday evening in Colonial Athletic Association basketball action.

The Black and Gold’s eighth straight victory improves their record to 17-3 overall and an unblemished 9-0 in the CAA. The Patriots fall to 11-8 overall and 5-4 in the conference.

Seniors Jesse Pellot-Rosa and Walker led the Rams out of the gate as the two seniors combined for 11 of VCU’s first 16 points to give the Black and Gold a 16-7 lead with 13:06 left in the first half.

Mason cut the lead to four at 18-14 after Darryl Monroe put back a missed free throw with 9:31 showing on the first half clock.

After Pellot-Rosa connected on a jumper to put the Rams up 20-14, the Patriots responded with six straight points to even the game at 20-20 with 5:52 left in the half.

Monroe took over for George Mason as the junior scored eight straight points for the Patriots to take 30-29 lead with less than a minute to play, but sophomore Eric Maynor connected on a running layup to give the Black and Gold a 31-30 lead at the intermission.

The senior duo of Walker and Pellot-Rosa caught fire out of the locker room as they scored the Rams first five points in the second half to push the VCU advantage to 36-30 with 18:54 left in regulation.

After Folarin Campbell cut the lead to 40-39, Walker took a feed from Maynor at the top of the key and drilled a three-pointer to give the Rams a 43-39 lead with 15:24 to play .

The Rams stayed hot from beyond the arc as the Black and connected on three-pointers on five of their next six scoring possessions as Walker pushed the VCU lead to 59-51 with 8:48 left to play, with a three from the right corner.

Wil Thomas put in a layup for the Patriots with 5:44 to cut the VCU lead to 59-55, but the Black and Gold responded with a three-pointer from Walker and a jumper on the wing from Wil Fameni to extend the Rams advantage to 64-55 with 4:38 left in regulation.

The Patriots would get no closer than six the rest of the way as Jamal Shuler chipped in nine of the Rams final 11 points to lead VCU to its eighth straight victory.

Walker led the Black and Gold effort with 24 points, knocking down five three-pointers in the contest. Shuler chipped in 17 points off the bench and Pellot-Rosa was the final Ram in double-figures with 14.

Maynor recorded a double-double on the night as he collected 10 rebounds and dished out 10 assists in the contest. The sophomore point guard also chipped in eight points in the win.

Campbell led the Patriots effort with 19 points while Monroe and Thomas each contributed 14 points.

The Rams are back in action on Saturday afternoon as they travel to Philadelphia, Pa. for a pivotal CAA matchup against Drexel University. Tip-off is set for 12 p.m.