RAMS CLINCH CAA REGULAR-SEASON CROWN WITH 72-70 WIN AT GEORGIA ST.
2-24-07
Box Score

ATLANTA, Ga. – Senior guard Jesse Pellot-Rosa (Richmond, Va./George Wythe) scored on a follow and a foul shot with three seconds left to secure a 72-70 victory for Virginia Commonwealth University at Georgia State University Saturday afternoon at the Georgia State Sports Arena to give the Rams the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title.

The Rams (24-6, 16-2), under first-year head coach Anthony Grant, set a CAA record for conference victories in a season. VCU will be the top seed in the CAA Tournament for the second time in the past four years.

VCU held a 68-67 lead when junior forward Michael Anderson (Virginia Beach, Va./Landstown) was fouled with four seconds left. He made the front end of the one-and-one, but missed the second. Pellot-Rosa came in from the left side to grab the rebound, lay it in and got fouled with three seconds remaining. He made the free throw to give the Rams a 72-67 advantage. Leonard Mendez nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer for the Panthers (10-19, 5-12) to make the final score 72-70.

The Panthers jumped out to a 19-6 lead in the game’s first eight minutes. Deven Dickerson and Leonard Mendez each had six points during the flurry. The Rams responded with a 15-2 run to tie the score at 21-21 with 4:35 remaining in the half. Pellot-Rosa had a pair of three-pointers, including the tying trey. GSU finished the half on a 7-3 run to take a 28-24 lead at intermission. Dickerson had 10 points in the first period, as did VCU junior forward Wil Fameni (Douala, Cameroon/Amelia Academy).

GSU maintained the lead through the first part of the second half. Anderson’s dunk with nine minutes remaining gave VCU the lead for good at 51-49. A jumper by sophomore guard Eric Maynor (Fayetteville, N.C./Westover) with 5:40 left gave the Rams their largest lead at 59-52. The Panthers twice closed to within one, but the Rams never relinquished the lead in holding on for the two-point victory.

Maynor finished with 16 points and 10 assists. Fameni had 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Pellot-Rosa scored 15 points.

VCU will be the No. 1 seed in next week’s CAA Tournament at the Richmond Coliseum.