Though they got off to a slow start, top seeded Virginia Commonwealth University proved to be too much on both ends of the court for No. 9 Towson University, beating the Tigers 57-46 in quarterfinal play.

VCU played from behind for most of the first half, but a last second three-pointer by CAA Player of the Year Eric Maynor put the Rams ahead 25-22 going into the second half.

Towson started the game 8-0 by capitalizing on several VCU miscues and early fumbling in the paint by the Rams' Kirill Pishchalnikov.

VCU eventually caught up pulling within three points after a Larry Sanders' two-pointer at 11:47, but the score remained in Towson's favor 17-14 for more than six minutes as neither team could even buy a basket.

Towson's Tony Durant broke the scoreless streak at 4:55 with a quick deuce, but VCU quickly took its first lead of the day at 2:30 with a close basket by Sanders to bring the Rams 20-19.

Towson's C.C. Williams answered quickly with a massive three-pointer with less than two minutes to go, but VCU's Sanders and T.J. Gwynn pulled down some key rebounds leading to a game tying two-pointer by Joey Rodriguez, making it 22-22 at 1:10.

Towson's Durant tried to answer with a solid lay up, but was fouled hard by Sanders. After missing both of his free throws, VCU took the ball and successfully employed some time management running the clock down until Maynor pulled up with a momentum changing three-pointer with 3.8 seconds to go.

After the break, VCU came out offensively and defensively heavy to start the second half quickly taking a 12 point lead and keeping the Tigers scoreless for the first five minutes of the game. The Rams' early aggression and two consecutive dunks by Sanders also forced Towson head coach Pat Kennedy to burn through all of his timeouts with more than 14 minutes remaining in the game.

Though Sanders was also dominant on the defensive boards, Towson slowly crept back with Durant bringing the Tigers within four with a little more than 10 minutes to go.

The momentum didn't last however as it was quickly quashed by a Rodriguez steal followed by a Maynor layup to bring the Rams back 42-34 at 5:46.

Three minutes later, VCU's momentum was sealed with a monstrous dunk by Sanders to give the Rams an 11-point lead and a clear path to victory.

Though VCU may have had a slow offensive start, head coach Anthony Grant said it's not uncommon for a team to struggle early on in tournament play. Plus, it allows the defense to take an early stand, he said.

"One of the things we talked about was allowing our defense to create easy opportunities for us on the offensive end and in the second half we really did that," he said. "But once we got the lead, the pace of the game, the whole tempo changed in our favor."

Defensively, it was Sanders' Day at the Coliseum. The VCU freshman made a career-high 15 total rebounds as well as four blocks and one steal on top of his 14 points. Maynor scored a team high 19 points and made six assists. Jamal Shuler also had a good day making 10 points and seven rebounds.

VCU advances to play in the semifinals Sunday, March 9 against the winner of the William & Mary/Old Dominion game.

CAA Tournament Reading Room

w Hoopin' at the CAA 2008 CAA Basketball Tournament: Our RBlog takes you on a journey through the tournament.
w First round action: Northeastern, Delaware, William & Mary and Towson capture wins on day one.