VCU Athletics-Men's Basketball

POTENT OFFENSIVE ATTACK LEADS VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH TO 94-80 VICTORY OVER RADFORD
12-18-99
A lights-out performance from the field powered Virginia Commonwealth to a 94-80 victory over Radford on Saturday night at the ALLTEL Pavilion at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. The Rams hit 36 of their 59 shots on the evening, a 61.0 percent clip, for the team's best shooting performance under head coach Mack McCarthy.

Leading the charge for the Rams was sophomore forward Shawn Hampton (Baltimore, Md.), who hit 10 of his 12 attempts from the field and finished with a career-high 27 points. Hampton, who had scored just 35 points on the season prior to Saturday night's contest, also tied a career high with 15 rebounds for the fifth double-double of his career. Junior guard LaMar Taylor (Richmond, Va.) had 21 points for Virginia Commonwealth, the sixth time this season he has cleared the 20-point barrier.

Radford was led by Ryan Charles, who also recorded a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Raymond Arrington also tallied 19 points for the Highlanders.

Virginia Commonwealth was especially red-hot in the first half, jumping on top early as it connected on 17-of-26 shots from the field (65.4 percent) to lead by as many as 13. Despite their hot shooting, the Rams could not shake Radford, which benefited from a 16-of-19 performance at the free-throw line in the opening period. The Rams led just 43-36 at the half.

Radford closed the gap even further in the second half, tying the game at 46 on a jump shot by Byron Hall with 17:16 remaining. The Highlanders took their only lead of the game when Arrington hit a three-pointer to give his team a 55-54 lead. But the Rams quickly responded and took the lead back a short time later.

Radford, which had shot just 31.0 percent in the first half, was able to find the mark more frequently in the closing 20 minutes to help keep it close. The Highlanders were within six points as late as the 5:53 mark before the Rams warmed up again to help put the game out of reach. Leading 75-66 with just under five minutes left to play, Virginia Commonwealth went on a 9-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 86-70. Consecutive three-pointers by Taylor and Scott Lilly helped spark the run. The Highlanders would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Virginia Commonwealth now stands at 4-4, while Radford falls to 4-3 on the season. The Rams will play the second half of their two-game homestand on Tuesday against another in-state rival, VMI. The game is set to begin at 7:30 p.m.

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