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UD mens basketball falls to Virginia Commonwealth 11:10 a.m., Jan. 8, 2004--The University of Delaware mens basketball team fell hard in a 99-72 loss to host Virginia Commonwealth University in a Colonial Athletic Association game played Wednesday night at the Siegel Center in Richmond. The Fightin Blue Hens suffered their worst loss since an 84-57 setback to St. Joseph's University on Nov. 28, 2001. It was UDs largest margin of loss in four seasons in the CAA. UD fell to 7-4 overall and 1-1 in the conference. The Hens will try to bounce back with a conference road game at Towson University at 5 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 10. Towson is 3-8 overall and 0-2 in CAA. On Wednesday, Virginia Commonwealth center Troy Godwin had 20 points on eight of 10 shooting from the field, Domonic Jones added 19 points and eight rebounds and Nick George was a perfect seven of seven from the field and finished with a career-high 17 points. Virginia Commonwealth finished the night hitting 37 of 55 shots from the field, including seven of 10 from the three-point line. UDs Mike Ames finished with a team-high 19 points, while David Lunn added 17 points and Mike Slattery contributed 11 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Harding Nana had nine points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Hens. "Our defense was nonexistent tonight," UD Head Coach David Henderson said. "We started out allowing some easy baskets and then the basket became an ocean for VCU and they couldn't miss. This was the worst a team of mine has ever played. We were flat and I don't have an explanation. I can tell you we will play better defense on Saturday (at Towson)." The teams played to a 5-5 tie in the first two minutes of the game before Virginia Commonwealth caught fire. The Rams followed with an 18-1 run in which they converted on eight of 11 shots from the field and went up 23-6 on a three-pointer by Godwin with 12:54 remaining. The Rams ended the first half with a 56-38 advantage, the most points scored in the first half against the Hens since Navy, led by David Robinson, hit for 59 on Jan. 20, 1986. For the half, the Rams shot a blistering 71 percent, hitting on 22 of 31 shots from the field, including five of seven from beyond the three-point line. UD, which shot a respectable 43.3 percent from the field for the game (26 of 60), slowly trimmed the lead in the second half and trailed 74-61 on a jumper by Ames. But Virginia Commonwealths Derrick Reid (career-high 15 points) followed with two quick baskets, and Godwin converted a three-point play to increase the lead to 20 points and the Hens never threatened again. To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here. |