Maynor dupes Duke

By J-W Wire Reports     Mar 16, 2007

Virginia Commonwealth players, from left, B.A. Walker, Michael Anderson, T.J. Gwynn and Jesse Pellot-Rosa celebrate. VCU upset Duke, 79-77, in the first round Thursday in Buffalo, N.Y.

? The game was tied as Eric Maynor took the inbounds pass with 10.3 seconds remaining. Was there any doubt, given the freon in this kid’s veins, that he wasn’t going to give it up?

Ten days after delivering the Colonial Athletic Association championship to Virginia Commonwealth, Maynor put the Rams in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. His 15-foot jumper over Duke’s Jon Scheyer with 1.8 seconds left capped a back-and-forth and sometimes bloody second half and lifted VCU to a 79-77 victory in a West Region opener.

Maynor scored eight of his team’s last 11 points as the 11th-seeded Rams played from behind most of the night. VCU (28-6) won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 1985.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to make some plays in the last two games to get us wins,” Maynor said. “Coach always tells me to be a player, and I’m going to want the ball.”

Just like he did in the CAA final, when he scored nine points in the final two minutes against George Mason.

Maynor brought the ball down the floor, crossed over his dribble, and stuck a jumper from just outside the free throw line. He left Duke 1.8 seconds, and this is Duke we’re talking about but it wasn’t enough. After the Jumbotron showed Christian Laettner in the stands, Paulus took the inbounds pass and wasn’t close with a 40-footer.

It was Duke’s earliest exit in the NCAA Tournament since 1996, when it lost to Eastern Michigan in the first round.

UCLA 70, Weber State 42

Sacramento, Calif. – Arron Afflalo put an awful game behind him in UCLA’s impressive NCAA Tournament opener.

Shaking off a terrible performance in last week’s Pac-10 tournament, Afflalo had 22 points and eight rebounds against Weber State (20-12).

Darren Collison had 14 points and eight assists while playing on a sprained ankle for the second-seeded Bruins (27-5).

Dezmon Harris led Weber State with 10 points.

UCLA will face Indiana in the second round Saturday.

Pittsburgh 79, Wright State 58

Buffalo, N.Y. – No first-round exit this time for Pittsburgh.

The Panthers, ousted in the first round seven times in 18 previous appearances in the NCAA Tournament, used their long-range marksmanship instead of their considerable brawn, hitting 10 of 21 three-pointers, and beat Wright State.

Ronald Ramon hit four threes and finished with 14 points, and Sam Young had 13 to lead the Panthers, who never trailed. Pittsburgh (28-7), the third seed in the West Regional, will meet 11th-seeded Virginia Commonwealth (28-6) in the second round Saturday.

Indiana 70, Gonzaga 57

Sacramento, Calif. – Roderick Wilmont scored 22 points and hit six of his team’s nine three-pointers, and the Hoosiers avenged a loss to Gonzaga last March.

Wilmont shot 8-for-16 and also added seven rebounds, three assists and a steal to extend his senior season for seventh-seeded Indiana (21-10), which was eliminated by the Zags 90-80 in a second-round meeting a year ago.

David Pendergraft had 12 points and five rebounds and Sean Mallon 11 points and six boards for 10th-seeded Gonzaga (23-11).

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