Rozzell, Rams Light Up Scoreboard in 93-86 Win Over Charleston in CBI Quarterfinals

box score

RICHMOND, Va. – The two giant scoreboards inside the Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center thought they were in the early stages of offseason hibernation.

Monday’s quarterfinal of the CBI woke those scoreboards up in a hurry as the Virginia Commonwealth University men’s basketball got past the College of Charleston in a shootout, 93-86.

“I said this after our first CBI game and it definitely applies to this one as well, this had to be a fun game to watch,” Head Coach Shaka Smart said. “I’m pretty happy with the effort our guys showed, nice to see another night with a bunch of guys in double-figures. We’ll focus on the defensive end in the coming days, I thought we got a little sloppy there, but that’s why it’s good to have these games.”

The two teams combined for 71 field goals, 20 of which were three-pointers. Each team had 20 assists and both teams combined to shoot 47% for the contest.

Junior Brandon Rozzell (Richmond, Va.) tallied a career-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while classmate Jamie Skeen (Charlotte, N.C.) posted a VCU career-best 18 points on 9-of-11 from the field. Joey Rodriguez (Oviedo, Fla.) continued to be outstanding with a 19-point, nine assist effort, while his classmate Larry Sanders (Fort Pierce, Fla.) became the 29th member of the 1,000-point club with 14 points.

It wasn’t easy though as the Black & Gold started the game by shooting 2-of-12 from the field and found themselves down six, 25-19, with 8:32 to play in the first stanza.

It was at that point that Rozzell imposed his will, scoring 11 straight points to spark a 17-0 run by the Rams to claim a 36-25 advantage with less than four minutes to play left on the first half clock.

After taking a 42-34 lead into halftime, the Cougars came out aggressive to start the second half. A jumper by Andrew Goudelock with 15:16 left to play brought Charleston within one at 50-49.
Five quick points by Sanders pushed the lead to six and Charleston would never get any closer.

The noteworthy part of the evening happened with 6:56 left to play when Sanders made a strong move to the hole for an easy lay-up to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau. He becomes the 29th player all-time and just the 12th player ever to reach that mark during his junior season.

“It’s an incredible accomplishment, especially during his junior year,” Smart added. “The best part about that was the way he did it, with a strong, aggressive move to the basket. That’s how we want him to score every game.”

Sanders tallied his 13th double-double of the year with 17 rebounds to go along with his 14 points. He also added four blocks and two steals to the stat sheet.

For Charleston, Tony White Jr. was a force to be reckon with, pouring in 24 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists. Goudelock finished with 19 points, while Jeremy Simmons chipped in 16 points and nine rebounds for the Cougars.

The Rams will now host the CBI Semi-Finals on Wednesday evening. Game time and opponent have yet to be announced.