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Weems leads Arkansas over VCU

Nov 19, 2007 - 3:13 AM SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Ticker) -- Sonny Weems scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds as No. 18 Arkansas was able to hold off Virginia Commonwealth for a 70-60 triumph at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Sunday.

The senior swingman shot 7-of-12 from the floor, but missed all four of his 3-point attempts en route to his best performance of the season.

Patrick Beverley added 13 points and Gary Ervin chipped in 12 for the Razorbacks (3-1), who were coming off a 67-51 loss to Providence on Friday.

"I think we're closer as a team (after the trip)," Beverley said. "Players understand their roles. If we can keep our turnovers down, the sky is the limit."

"Our guards did a better job of getting us started," Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said. "We will take responsibility as a coaching staff and coach them better, but the guards looked more confident."

Behind six early points from forward Michael Washington, Arkansas jumped out to a 24-9 edge and would not relinquish the lead the rest of the way.

The Rams (2-2) responded with a 13-2 run to cut the deficit to six points, but the Razorbacks still took a 34-24 advantage into the break.

VCU did manage to start the second half on a 9-2 run to cut Arkansas' advantage down to five points with 17:32 remaining, but they could not get any closer the rest of the way.

Ervin scored five points in the final minute to seal the win for the Razorbacks, who shot 51 percent (26-of-51) from the field, despite going just 2-of-12 from the arc.

"We did grind them pretty good (in the workouts)," Pelphrey said. "Hopefully we've learned we can push ourselves and still play at a high level."

VCU was led by Michael Anderson, who scored 16 points and hauled in a team-high four rebounds.

Jamal Shuler and Eric Maynor each added 12 points for the Rams, who shot just 34 percent (17-of-50) and were outrebounded, 32-21.