University of Delaware Men's Basketball: 2001

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Virginia Commonwealth 68, Delaware 57
January 14, 2002

Cold-Shooting Hens Can't Keep up With Rams

Sean Knitter led the Hens with 13 points off the bench

RICHMOND, VA -- Short-handed Virginia Commonwealth held Delaware to just four points in the first nine minutes of the second half on the way to a 68-57 Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball victory Monday night at the Siegel Center.

Point guard Domonic Jones scored a game-high 24 points, including 18 in the second half, and center L.F. Likcholitov added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Rams (11-6, 3-3), who played without leading scorer Willie Taylor and top backup Josh Clark. Both were suspended for one game for their actions in Saturday night's loss to William & Mary. Taylor is the CAA's second leading scorer at 18.8 points per game.

Delaware, coming off a 65-60 win over league leading UNC Wilmington Saturday night, could not keep up the momentum as the Hens fell to 7-8, 3-3 CAA. Sean Knitter came off the bench to lead the Hens with 13 points while Ryan Iversen chipped in with nine points and 10 rebounds. The Hens shot just 30 percent for the game (18 of 60) and converted just 6 of 27 three-pointers. The Hens managed to connect on only 7 of 33 second half shots after taking a 33-32 lead into halftime.

At one point, Delaware missed 11 straight field goal attempts and were held to just one field goal in a span of 16 minutes and 30 seconds between the first and second halves. Delaware's leading scorer, guard Mike Ames, was held scoreless and had his string of 14 straight games with at least one three-pointer snapped.

"They are very talented and very big," said Delaware head coach David Henderson. "Sometimes when a team faces adversity like VCU did tonight, it helps the team focus better. And they did tonight. VCU took Mo Sessoms (9 points, 3 rebounds) out of the game and really outmanned us. We fought hard, but they kept coming after us. We just couldn't put the ball in the basket in the second half. We faced size and athleticism and we struggled with that. We wanted to attack more, but couldn't get anything going. Their perimeter plays were too quick for us."

Delaware connected on 10 of its first 15 shots from the field to jump out to a 21-8 lead in the first half, but quickly cooled down. Beginning at the 7:34 mark of the first half, the Hens converted just one field goal, a layup by Knitter with 14 seconds left in the opening stanza, until 11:04 mark of the second half. The Hens did escape with a 33-32 halftime lead.

VCU put the game away early in the second half as the Rams outscored the Hens 16-4 to open the half, taking a 48-37 lead with 12:23 left to play. A three-pointer by Mike Slattery ended the Hens' field goal drought and brought Delaware to within 48-40 with 11:04 left, but that was as close as the Hens would get.

Delaware will conclude its five-game road swing Thursday night when the Hens travel to the Palestra in Philadelphia to take on Ivy League favorite Pennsylvania at 7:30 p.m.

AGATE:

Official Basketball Box Score

Official Basketball Box Score U. of Delaware vs Virginia Commonwealth 1/14/01 7:30 pm at Richmond, VA - ALLTEL Pavillion -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: U. of Delaware 7-8, 3-3 CAA TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 01 Hunter, Vohn........ f 3-9 2-5 0-0 1 3 4 3 8 1 0 0 0 24 42 Hindenlang, Dave.... f 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 8 44 Sessoms, Maurice.... c 3-8 0-1 3-4 1 2 3 5 9 0 3 2 0 17 10 Ames, Mike.......... g 0-5 0-3 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 2 1 0 1 18 22 Rowland, Austen..... g 3-9 0-5 2-3 0 3 3 1 8 2 1 0 4 23 03 Slattery, Mike...... 1-5 1-3 0-0 0 2 2 1 3 2 0 0 0 18 24 Wentt, Robin........ 0-3 0-0 3-4 3 4 7 5 3 0 1 1 0 21 30 Smith, Calvin....... 0-1 0-1 0-2 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 7 31 Curry, Mark......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 9 32 Iversen, Ryan....... 3-5 2-3 1-1 1 9 10 3 9 1 3 0 1 17 33 Knitter, Sean....... 4-11 1-6 4-4 1 1 2 1 13 0 0 0 0 19 35 Lunn, David......... 0-2 0-0 2-4 2 0 2 1 2 2 1 0 1 19 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 18-60 6-27 15-22 12 28 40 24 57 10 12 3 7 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-27 40.7% 2nd Half: 7-33 21.2% Game: 30.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-12 41.7% 2nd Half: 1-15 06.7% Game: 22.2% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 6- 9 66.7% 2nd Half: 9-13 69.2% Game: 68.2% 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Virginia Commonwealth 11-6, 3-3 CAA TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 05 Graham, Josh........ f 3-4 2-2 0-2 1 3 4 3 8 2 2 0 0 28 12 Nesterov, Konstantin f 1-8 1-2 0-0 3 1 4 3 3 0 0 1 0 11 42 Likcholitov, L.F.... c 7-13 0-0 3-7 2 10 12 2 17 0 1 2 0 35 10 Jones, Domonic...... g 7-12 1-2 9-11 1 3 4 3 24 2 2 0 0 35 24 Willie, Antoine..... g 2-7 1-3 2-2 0 6 6 2 7 4 3 0 2 35 01 Adams, Mark......... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 13 Shtam, Alexander.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 30 Mathis, Emanuel..... 0-5 0-1 4-4 0 4 4 2 4 1 2 0 1 29 33 Orlov, Denis........ 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 7 34 Reid, Derrick....... 2-4 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 3 4 1 0 0 0 14 TEAM................ 1 6 7 Totals.............. 22-53 5-10 19-29 9 34 43 20 68 10 11 4 3 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-28 39.3% 2nd Half: 11-25 44.0% Game: 41.5% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3- 7 42.9% 2nd Half: 2- 3 66.7% Game: 50.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 7-12 58.3% 2nd Half: 12-17 70.6% Game: 65.5% 4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Frank Scagliotta, Duke Edsall, Ted Valentine Technical fouls: U. of Delaware-None. Virginia Commonwealth-None. Attendance: 4215 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total U. of Delaware................ 33 24 - 57 Virginia Commonwealth......... 32 36 - 68

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