VCU won CAA Championship title 2009 (Photo: CAA)

CAA Regular Season Standings 1 Va Commonwealth 14-4 23-9 2 George Mason 13-5 21-9 3 ODU 12-6 21-10 4 Northeastern 12-6 18-12 5 Hofstra 11-7 21-11 6 Drexel 10-8 15-14 7 JMU 9-9 19-14 8 Georgia St. 8-10 12-20 9 Delaware 6-12 13-19 10 Towson 5-13 12-21 11 William Mary 5-13 10-20 12 NC-Wilmington 3-15 7-25

Virginia Commonwealth University 2008-09

Grant Maynor Gwynn Rozzell Rodriguez Nixon 3 Maynor Eric 6'2'' (188) G 42 Gwynn T.J. 6'4'' (193) F 5 Rozzell Brandon 6'2'' (188) G 12 Rodriguez Joey 5'10'' (178) G 50 Nixon Ed 6'3'' (191) G 11 Pishchalnikov Kirill 6'8'' (203) F 20 Burgess Bradford 6'4'' (193) G 21 Ndongo Franck 6'7'' (201) F 1 Sanders Larry 6'9'' (206) F 10 Smith Gerard 5'10'' (178) G 23 Kearse Lance 6'6'' (198) F 0 Gavin Jay 6'3'' (191) G 4 Saintil Terrance 6'7'' (201) F 34 Hinton David 6'8'' (203) F

Senior guard Eric Maynor (6'2''-G-87) (Raeford, N.C.) led all scorers with 25 points and added eight assists, and sophomore forward Larry Sanders (6'9''-F-88) (Fort Pierce, Fla.) set a tournament game record with 20 rebounds and tied another with seven blocks as top-seeded Virginia Commonwealth University defeated No. 2 George Mason University 71-50 in the Championship Game of the 2009 Colonial Athletic Association Tournament in front of a sellout crowd of 11,200 at the Richmond Coliseum.
The Rams (24-9) won their second CAA title in the past three seasons and earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Patriots dropped to 22-10.
Maynor, named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, hit nine of 19 shots from the floor, two from behind the arc, and 5 of 6 from the free throw line to account for his 25. Sanders added 18 points, including 12 in the second half. Sanders also set a record with 40 rebounds in the entire tournament, passing David Robinson's total of 39 in 1986. The single-game rebounding record of 19 had been held by Robinson, Kenny Sanders (twice), Robinson and Harding Nana. Sanders tied Robinson for the block record.
VCU jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the first four minutes by hitting four of its first five shots, while Mason missed seven of its first eight attempts. The Patriots pulled to within two at 9-7 before a 21-10 Ram run pushed the lead to 30-17 with just under three minutes remaining in the half. Maynor had 14 points for VCU during the run. Freshman forward Ryan Pearson (6'6''-F-90) (Far Rockaway, N.Y.) hit a five-footer with 52 seconds left to make it 30-19 at the half. VCU shot 52% (13-25) from the floor in the first half, including 4-11 from behind the arc. The Patriots shot 29% (8-27) from the floor. Maynor finished the half with 14 points and four assists, while Sanders had six points and 12 boards. Senior guard Dre Smith (6'0''-G-85) (Houston, Texas) had five points in the first 20 minutes for Mason.
The Rams started the second half on a 13-1 run to take a 43-20 lead with 14:17 left in the contest. Mason didn't hit its first field goal of the second half until seven minutes in, going 0-7 from the floor and committing six turnovers. After trailing 47-25, Mason used a 7-0 run to make it 47-32 with 8:30 left. VCU went scoreless for 3:30 before Maynor hit a floater and four free throws to give the Rams a 53-37 advantage with six minutes left. Smith hit a pair of three-pointers to pull Mason to within 12 at 56-44 with 5:15 left before a 9-0 run by the Rams pushed the lead to 21 at 65-44 with 3:45 remaining before recording the 71-50 victory.
VCU shot 49% from the floor (26-53) and held Mason to 30% shooting (18-59).
Smith paced the Patriots with 23 points. He was 8-14 from the floor and 5-10 from behind the arc.

Courtesy of CAA


Tournament Final: VCU - George Mason 71-50
Tournament Semifinals:
VCU - Old Dominion 61-53
George Mason - Towson 56-48

CAA All-Tournament MVP: Eric Maynor of VCU

All-CAA 1st Team 2008-09

Maynor Egerson Janning Jenkins Lee

All-CAA 1st Team
Marc Egerson (6'6''-G-86) of Delaware
Matt Janning (6'4''-G/F-88) of Northeastern
Charles Jenkins (6'3''-G-89) of Hofstra
Gerald Lee (6'10''-F-87) of Old Dominion
Eric Maynor of VCU

All-CAA 2nd Team
Juwann James (6'6''-F) of James Madison
Darryl Monroe (6'7''-F-86) of George Mason
Scott Rodgers (6'3''-G) of Drexel
Larry Sanders of VCU
John Vaughan (6'3''-G-86) of George Mason

All-CAA 3rd Team
Manny Adako (6'8''-F-87) of Northeastern
Joe Dukes (6'1''-G-87) of Georgia State
Junior Hairston (6'8''-F) of Towson
Cam Long (6'4''-G-88) of George Mason
David Schneider (6'3''-G-87) of William & Mary
Chad Tomko (5'11''-G-89) of UNC Wilmington

CAA All-Rookie Team
Bradford Burgess (6'4''-G-90) of VCU
Samme Givens (6'5''-F) of Drexel
Quinn McDowell (6'5''-G/F) of William & Mary
Devon Moore (6'4''-G) of James Madison
Ryan Pearson of George Mason
Julius Wells (6'5''-F) of James Madison

CAA All-Defensive Team
Chaisson Allen (6'4''-G-89) of Northeastern
Scott Rodgers of Drexel
Larry Sanders of VCU
John Vaughan of George Mason
Greg Washington (6'10''-F-84) of Hofstra

CAA All-Academic 1st Team
Baptiste Bataille (5'10''-G-87) of Northeastern
Darion Jeralds (6'1''-G-88) of UNC Wilmington
Brian Morris (6'6''-G-87) of Towson
Nkem Ojougboh (6'9''-C-87) of Northeastern
David Schneider of William & Mary

CAA All-Academic 2nd Team
Jonathan Adams (6'6''-F-87) of Old Dominion
Matt Janning of Northeastern
Daniel Mercer (6'6''-F) of UNC Wilmington
Zygis Sestokas (6'5''-G/F-86) of Hofstra
Leon Spencer (6'8''-F) of Drexel
Arminas Urbutis (6'9''-F-86) of Hofstra

CAA Player of the Year: Eric Maynor of VCU
CAA Defensive Player of the Year: Larry Sanders of VCU
CAA Rookie of the Year: Julius Wells of James Madison
CAA Dean Ehlers Leadership Award: Darion Jeralds of UNC Wilmington
CAA Coach of the Year: Bruiser Flint of Drexel