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GAME NOTES: The Old Dominion Monarchs try to keep pace with the other elite teams in the Colonial Athletic Association as they tangle with the Virginia Commonwealth Rams in Richmond this afternoon.

Heading into the weekend the Monarchs were tied with both George Mason and Northeastern for first place in the CAA standings with a record of 10-2, while the Rams loomed in the background at 8-4. ODU managed to bounce back from a loss to Northeastern a week ago on the road by taking care of William & Mary at home on Wednesday night a score of 61-42, running the team's home win streak to 20 in a row.

As for the Rams, who themselves are an impressive 11-1 at home, they logged their third straight win and the seventh in the last eight contests with a 73-60 triumph over UNC-Wilmington three nights ago as well.

VCU leads the all-time series with the Monarchs by a count of 41-38, picking up a win here in Richmond by a score of 61-44 last season. The Rams also took care of ODU during the CAA Tournament last year with a 61-53 triumph.

Even though the Monarchs shot just 4-of-18 behind the three-point line and 9- of-16 at the charity stripe against the Tribe, the home team still played well enough to log the 19-point win. Frank Hassell accounted for 15 points as he made all five of his field goal attempts, and added nine rebounds while Darius James tacked in 11 points in the victory. Even though he didn't make it into double digits against William & Mary, Gerald Lee is still a primary source for offense in 2009-10 for ODU with his team-best 14.0 ppg. In fact Lee, who is shooting 51.9 percent from the floor, is the only double-digit scorer for the group at the moment. Clearly this group feeds off its defense, a unit that has limited opponents to 39.2 percent shooting from the field and 28.8 percent beyond the arc, resulting in a meager 55.0 ppg which is one of the best marks in all of college basketball at the moment.

Ed Nixon came off the bench to tally a team-high 19 points for the Rams in their win against UNC Wilmington earlier this week. Also hitting for double figures was Joey Rodriguez with 18 points, while Larry Sanders somehow was held scoreless but still made his presence known with his 10 rebounds and five assists. Jay Gavin, who played just a single minute off the bench and failed to score, decided on Friday to leave the program for personal reasons, leaving the squad with one less threat when they take the floor today. Sanders is still the top scorer for the Rams with his 15.0 ppg and is also the focal point of the rebounding effort with his 8.8 rpg. Rodriguez (11.6 ppg) takes care of directing the offense with his 126 assists, against a mere 49 turnovers, so rarely does he put himself or his teammates in bad situations.

The loss of Gavin might not be immediately felt by the Rams, but at some point his absence will show up. ODU has had trouble beating VCU on the road and this should be another instance of that, especially if Sanders seeks to bounce back in a big way.