March 7, 2004
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia Commonwealth shot a blistering .653from the floor (.731 in the first half) Sunday as the Rams beat Old Dominion 84-67 in theColonial Athletic Association tournament semifinals.
The top-seeded Rams (22-7) won their seventh in a row and their ninthstraight against the Monarchs to advance to Monday night's championship againstN.C.-Wilmington or George Mason, who played in the late game.
Nick George led the Rams with 16 points, Troy Godwin and Dominic Jones eachhad 14 and Michael Doles had 12. Jones, George and Jesse Pellot-Rosa, whoscored nine, each hit two 3-pointers. The Rams were 10-for-20 on 3s.
Alex Loughton led Old Dominion with 19 points. The Monarchs, once acontender for the regular season title, shot just 40 percent to VCU's 65percent and lost for the fourth time in six games. ODU finished 17-12. Freshmanforward Valdas Vasylius scored 11 points off the bench and freshman Drew Williamsdished out six assists.
The Rams took control right away, making 15 of their first 19 shots and sixof eight 3-pointers to open a 36-23 lead in the first 12 minutes.
George and Pellot-Rosa each had two 3-pointers and Walker and CAA player ofthe year Jones each had one in the extended opening burst.
The Rams led 45-33 at halftime, having connected on 73 percent of theirshots (19 of 26). With Walker adding two quick 3-pointers and Jones one, VCUpushed its lead to 58-41 with 13:35 to play and coasted.
Old Dominion used a 7-3 run to get to 61-48, but Doles had five points andPellot-Rosa a three-point play in an 8-2 run that clinched it.