RICHMOND, Va. – Veteran players are usually the ones teams look to when things aren’t going according to plan.
On Saturday night, in front of a sold out Verizon Wireless Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center, senior T.J. Gwynn (Burlington, N.C.) took that role head on and his 20-point, seven-rebound performance spurred the Virginia Comm onwealth University basketball team to a critical 65-57 victory over cross-town rival Richmond.
For his efforts, Gwynn was named Colonial Athletic Association Co-Player of the Week.
“T.J. was huge in allowing us to stay within striking distance when as a team we weren’t clicking,†Smart said. “I think T.J. came into the game very, very motivated and when he’s hot and flying around and playing with that energy, it’s not always the prettiest thing but it always gets stuff done.â€Â
With his team down 12 with less than two minutes to play in the first half, Gwynn tallied five straight points to give the Rams momentum heading into halftime. After halftime, the Black & Gold went on a 19-4 run and ultimately went on to pick up the win against a Richmond team that had won five straight coming into the game.
It was his first 20-point outing since Nov. 16th of last season when he dropped 20 points on The Citadel in VCU’s season-opener.
On the year, the fifth-year senior is averaging 9.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest, while shooting 49.1% from the field.
Gwynn and his teammates return to the hardwood on Saturday afternoon when they travel to New Orleans, La. for a 2 p.m. EST showdown with Tulane.
