SPARKLING  DEFENSIVE EFFORT LEADS ROUT OF ELON, 91-49

ELON, N.C. – A relentless defensive effort and five Rams in double-digits led the VCU men’s basketball team to a 91-49 rout of Elon University on Tuesday evening. The Black and Gold caused 20 turnovers and held the Phoenix without a field goal almost nine minutes to start the contest.

The Rams defense sparked an impressive start as the Black and Gold held the Phoenix without a field goal for the first 8:39 of the game and took a commanding 22-0 advantage as B.A. Walker and T.J. Gwynn led the charge as Walker knocked down two three-pointers and Gwynn chipped in six points in the first nine minutes of the contest.

Elon finally got on the scoreboard as 23 knocked down a jumper with 11:21 showing on the clock and the Phoenix scored the next five points to cut the lead to 22-7 with 9:32 remaining in the first half.

Wil Fameni and Michael Anderson keyed a 8-0 run for the Rams as both converted several acrobatic dunks as the Rams led 38-12 with 2:58 left before the intermission.

A great feed from Maynor to senior Calvin Roland who put down VCU’s sixth dunk of the first half with less than a minute to play as the Black and Gold took a 45-19 advantage into the locker room.

Maynor and Gwynn both chipped in four points as the Rams went on an 11-2 run and pushed their lead to 64-26 with 14:49 remaining in regulation and a steal and a basket by Jamal Shuler gave the Black and Gold its largest lead of the game at 67-27 with 14:11 left in the contest.

The Rams continued the relentless pressure throughout the second half as VCU and Elon traded baskets the rest of the way as the Black and Gold scored the final five points in the contest to finish with the largest advantage of the game, 91-49.

Maynor led five Rams in double figures with 15 points as the sophomore point guard dished out seven assists and also grabbed six rebounds. Walker added 14 points, while the North Carolina native, Gwynn, chipped in a career high 13 points for the Black and Gold. Jesse Pellot-Rosa and Anderson were the other Rams in double-digits with 11 and 10 points respectively.

The Rams are back in action on Saturday evening as they host the Houston University Cougars at the Siegel Center in a 7:30 p.m. contest.