SANDERS, RODRIGUEZ LEAD VCU PAST DELAWARE, 66-49

SANDERS, RODRIGUEZ LEAD VCU PAST DELAWARE, 66-49

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RICHMOND, Va., March 5, 2010 - Guards Bradford Burgess (Midlothian, Va) and Joey Rodriguez  (Oviedo, Fla.) sparked VCU to an early lead with 19 first-half points and forward Larry Sanders (Fort Pierce, Fla.) finished with a double-double as the fifth-seeded Rams beat #12 Delaware 66-49 in the second opening-round game of the 2010 Virginia 529 College Savings Plan CAA Men's Basketball Championship Friday afternoon at the Richmond Coliseum.

Burgess had 10 first-half points and Rodriguez nine as VCU hit for seven field goals from three-point range during the period and built a 37-21 lead.  Sanders had 10 second-half points and finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds, his 11th scoring-rebounding double-double of the season.

VCU (21-8) with the victory advanced to a 2:30 p.m. Saturday quarterfinal meeting with fourth-seeded George Mason, which had a first-round tournament bye.  Delaware finished its season with a 7-24 record.

Burgess during the opening period hit on four of seven shots, including a pair of three-pointers, and Rodriguez had three first-half three-pointers.  Rodriguez finished with 12 points and Burgess with 10.

Rodriguez had his first-half three-pointers by the period's 8:02 mark, and all of Burgess' opening-half points came by the 4:05 mark as the Rams took a 31-16 lead.

Sanders had eight points as VCU raised its 16-point halftime advantage to 47-25 less than five minutes into the final period, and the Rams survived a Delaware flurry that got the Blue Hens to within 53-41 with just less than eight minutes remaining.  Seven straight VCU points upped the Rams' lead to 60-41, and Delaware didn't get closer than the final margin again.

VCU finished with nine three-pointers in 23 attempts, had a 39-29 rebounding edge took advantage of 17 Delaware turnovers while committing only eight.  No Ram played as many as 30 minutes, and 10 had points.

Junior guard Alphonso Dawson (Harrisburg, Pa.) with 13 points was Delaware's only double-figure scorer.  He hit on five of 11 shots, including a pair of three-point field goals, and had a team-high six rebounds in 35 minutes. Junior guard Jawan Carter (Chester, Pa.) was held to eight points, snapping his 23-game double-digit scoring streak.