News / Sports
NCAA Tournament Scores: Virginia Commonwealth Sends Duke Home with Late Jumper
Eric Maynor hit a 15-footer with 1.8 seconds remaining to lift the number eleven seeded Virginia Commonwealth Rams past the six seeded Duke Blue Devils 79-77 and advance into the field of 32.
Duke jumped out early, breaking a 5-5 tie with a 9-0 run in the first half and then extending their lead by 13 with just under 10 minutes gone by in the game. VCU hit Duke with a 15-6 run of their own to close the gap to four.
By the end of the first half it was Duke in front 40-38 but it was clear VCU was not going away.
The Rams showed their determination in the second half after falling behind 61-50. VCU was held scoreless for nearly five minutes and appeared to give in to the Blue Devils experience but then things changed. Suddenly it was the Rams hitting the long ball and sinking their foul-shots and by the time Duke knew what was happening VCU was up 68-67 with five minutes remaining.
When Duke’s DeMarcus Nelson hit a layup with 10 seconds remaining to tie the score at 77-77 it looked as if the game was heading to overtime but Maynor raced down the floor and buried the jumper to give the Rams the upset win.
In the end it came down to Duke failing to hit the long ball and convert their free-throws. A team that was nearly 70 percent from the stripe on the year hit just 20-32 from the line and made just 27 percent of their three-point attempts after averaging 36 percent for the year. VCU hit 75 percent of their free-throws and found the bottom of the bucket on 56 percent of their triple attempts.
Maynor finished with 22 points and 8 assists for the Rams. Josh McRoberts had 22 points and 12 rebounds for Duke while Greg Paulus added 25 points in the loss.
VCU will now face Pittsburgh in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
