Elevating victory

SLIDESHOW: VCU vs. JMU

If Virginia Commonwealth goes on to claim its third straight regular-season title in the Colonial Athletic Association, it may put a star beside this contest.

Pushed to the limit by game but undermanned James Madison, the Rams found a way to win a game they very well could have lost.

Eric Maynor's two free throws with 6.7 seconds sent the game into overtime, and the Rams used a trio of 3-pointers to prevail 76-71 before 6,913 at the Siegel Center.

VCU (11-3, 18-7), which blew an opportunity last week to move into a tie for first place with Northeastern, didn't this time. The Huskies lost to Drexel, leaving the teams knotted with four conference games remaining.

"If we had lost this one, we couldn't sit back and say, 'Oh, I hope they lose again.' I think we had to put this away," Maynor said.

That was certainly in doubt as the second half wound down.

JMU (8-6, 16-10), playing without several injured players and with point guard Devon Moore not 100 percent because of the flu, hung around behind a barrage of heavily contested 3-pointers by freshman Julius Wells (20 points) and misfires at the foul line (14 of 25) by the Rams.

Down 53-47, the Dukes scored seven consecutive points to take a 54-53 lead. Moore (13 points) scored six straight as JMU continued to hold off the Rams until their final possession.

VCU had the ball trailing 62-60 with 6.7 seconds left. Maynor, who picked up two fouls including a technical in the first half, came off a screen on an inbounds play and was held by Moore.

Maynor knocked down both foul shots to tie the game.

"I was telling coach I was watching Florida and Kentucky [Tuesday night], and Nick Calathes was in a situation where he had to make three [to tie the game] and he missed the first one," Maynor said. "I was just trying to take them one at a time and knock them down."

JMU pushed the ball downcourt, and Pierre Curtis drove to the left side of the basket as the clock wound down. His shot was blocked by Larry Sanders, and there was a lot of contact, but no foul was called as time ran out. James Madison coach Matt Brady was livid on the bench.

"We can all sit here and say it was a foul," Brady said. "I'm not going to sit here and say it was a foul. I thought Pierre made a great play. Whether it was or wasn't, we'll figure that out tomorrow.

"Those are three good officials. I certainly didn't agree with every call, but I'm sure Anthony [VCU coach Anthony Grant] feels the same way."

Grant, acknowledging that JMU is a "team to be reckoned with," said the Rams were fortunate to send the game to overtime.

Maynor scored six of his 22 points in OT. Struggling with his 3-point shot lately -- he is 2 for his past 22 -- he still nailed a big one in OT to give the Rams a 3-point lead. Treys by Joey Rodriguez and Bradford Burgess helped VCU maintain it.

"I thought we held him, as much as you can hold him in check -- he wasn't dominating the game," Brady said. "I've seen a lot of tapes in this building, where he dominates late in the game. He put his team on his back and made all the plays. For 34, 35 minutes, we did a pretty good job."

Brandon Rozzell had 13 points and Rodriguez 12 for VCU. Ben Louis had 11 and Dazzmond Thornton 12 for JMU.

Maynor, who had nine assists, said he didn't know Northeastern had lost until overtime.

"Somebody held up a big sign that said Northeastern had lost, and Brandon saw it," he said. "We had to tell everybody, 'We've got to go now. It's winning time.'"