NEWARK, DE -- Virginia Commonwealth held Delaware without a field goal for the final seven minutes of play and Jamal Shuler sealed the win with a big steal and free throw with three seconds remaining on the way to a 56-52 Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball victory Thursday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Delaware All-American candidate Harding Nana (15 points) hit a jumper with 7:06 left to give the Blue Hens a 50-49 lead, but his team would manage just two more free throws the rest of the way and missed its final eight shots from the field as VCU survived with the victory.

VCU, which entered the contest one-game out of first place in the tight CAA standings, won its third straight game and its fifth in the last six outings as Jesse Pellot-Rosa reached game-highs of 16 points and nine rebounds to go with three assists and three steals and Nick George added 14 points. The Rams overcame 37 percent shooting from the field for the game (17 of 46) by outscoring Delaware 18-5 at the foul line.

Delaware, which fell to VCU for the seventh straight time, dropped to 5-13 (1-8 CAA) with its second straight loss and its seventh in the last eight outings. Nana led the Hens with 15 points and seven rebounds while Rulon Washington (right) equalled that with 15 points, including three three-pointers.

The Hens shot 56.5 percent from the field (13 of 23) on the way to a 34-29 halftime lead, but managed just 18 points the entire second half as they shot 7 of 26 in the second stanza (26.9 percent). Delaware, which was coming off another sluggish offensive performance in a 55-44 loss at Drexel Saturday, was outrebounded 35-29.

Delaware held the lead for most of the first half before VCU took a 25-22 lead on a three-pointer by Alexander Harper with 4:53 left. Delaware regained the lead and the score was tied twice more before the Hens got a layup by Nana with 2:30 left and a three-pointer by Calvin Cannon with 37 remaining to go into halftime up 34-29.

The Rams regained the lead on an Eric Davis jumper with 13:32 left to play at 41-40, but the teams changed leads several times over the next five minutes. Delaware got a three-pointer from Washington to go up 48-47 with 7:54 left and VCU’s Eric Maynor countered with two free throws for a 49-48 VCU advantage at the 7:13 mark. Delaware came right
back to take its final lead of the night when Nana converted a layup for a 50-49 lead.

Davis hit one free throw to tie the score and George hit both ends of a two-shot foul at the 2:48 mark to give VCU a 52-50 lead. Pellot-Rosa scored the game’s only field goal during the final seven minutes of action with 56 seconds left to up the margin to 54-50 and Harper added a free throw 25 seconds later to push the lead to 55-50.

Delaware finally ended a scoring drought of 6:40 when Washington sank two free throws with 26 seconds left to cut the lead to 55-52 and the Hens got the ball back seconds later when Sam McMahon stole the ball from B.A. Walker. Nana and Cannon each missed three-pointers over an eight-second span but the Hens got the rebound each time and held
possession with four seconds left. But VCU’s Shuler stole McMahon’s inbounds pass on the baseline and followed with a free throw to ice the win.

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