MEN'S BASKETBALL ROLLS OVER ODU, 74-53 Watch Willie Taylor go strong to the hoop High Resolution (DSL-Cable) Lo Resolution (28.8-56K) box score 2-25-01 RICHMOND, Va.. ˆ  Five Virginia Commonwealth players finished in double-figure points and the Rams exploded for 43 second-half points to earn a 74-53 victory over Colonial Athletic Association rival Old Dominion in men‚s basketball Saturday afternoon at the ALLTEL Pavilion at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. VCU led by just five points, 31-26, at halftime but outscored the Monarchs 16-8 in the opening minutes of the second half to take a commanding 47-34 lead with 13:38 left to play. The Rams held ODU to just 23.1% (6-26) shooting after intermission and the Monarchs never could get to the lead to within single digits after VCU's early-second period run. Freshmen Domonic Jones (Chesterfield, Va./Manchester) and Johnnie Story (Hampton, Va./Hampton) led a balanced Rams' offensive attack with 12 points each, while senior Bo Jones (Richmond, Va./Huguenot) scored all of his 10 points in the second half to help VCU pull away. The Rams also received 10 points each from senior L.F. Likcholitov (St. Petersburg, Russia/St. Petersburg St. Tech. Univ.) and sophomore Willie Taylor (Smryna, Tenn./LaVergne), and the inside duo combined for 17 rebounds as the Rams owned a 40-31 overall advantage on the boards. With the win VCU improved to 16-12 overall and 9-6 in CAA play and assured itself of its first winning season since the 1996-97 campaign. The Rams also won for the 11th straight time in the ALLTEL Pavilion and upped its record to 12-1 on their home floor this season. ODU (12-16, 7-8 CAA), which connected on just 13 of 48 (27.1%) of its field goal attempts for the game, was led by sophomore Rasheed Wright, who finished 13-of-13 from the free-throw line and totaled a game-high 18 points. VCU will close out the 2000-01 regular season at home on Tuesday when the Rams take on intracity rival Richmond (20-6, 11-4 CAA) at the ALLTEL Pavilion beginning at 7:30 p.m. Rams' seniors Bo Jones, Scott Lilly (Charlotte, N.C./Independence) and LaMar Taylor (Richmond, Va./John Marshall) will be making their final home appearance and will be honored in a special ceremony prior to tipoff. A VCU win on Tuesday coupled with a North Carolina-Wilmington loss at Old Dominion on Monday night will give the Rams the second seed along with a first-round bye in next week's CAA tournament at the Richmond Coliseum.