For the first time ever the Rams welcomed The Belmont Bruins to the Stuart C. Siegel Center. The two teams both have a recent history of winning but it was the Rams that would get the win tonight, 75-65. The Rams would be without starting point guard Darius Theus due to injury.
Sophomore Treveon Graham led all Rams in scoring with 19 and Junior Juvonte Reddic followed behind with 17 points, marking the 7th time in 8 games that has reached double digits.
The Bruins actually have a higher rate of forcing turnovers which proves to be a crucial stat for the Rams. Luckily, tonight the Rams also won that battle.
Both teams struggled from the behind the arc in the first half, going a collective 0-16 until Belmont snuck in a half court buzzer beater to end the break. Senior Troy Daniels, who usually lights it up from downtown went 1-6 on the night scoring just 3 points not hitting his first bucket until 5:30 left in the game.
The Rams Havoc defensive was all but too much for the Bruins to handle as VCU ended the first half on a 18-3 run and with their largest lead, 39-21. The Shaka Smart led squad forced 24 turnovers compared to Belmont’s 15.
Belmont would not stay quiet for long as they were able to cut it to just a 6 point VCU lead with in the first 7 minutes of the second half.
Belmont would get it as close as just a 5 point VCU lead with 4:30 remaining. Junior Rob Brandenberg would hit a huge three pointer with just 3 minutes to give the Rams a 71-63 lead.
Belmont guard, Ian Clark, had a perfect night shooting 10 for 10 from the field and hitting his one and only free throw, chipping in 22 for his Bruins.
The Rams will go on the road down to Norfolk on Friday to play rivals, Old Dominion and then will return to the Siegel Center on Saturday, December 15th to welcome back former coach Anthony Grant as they take on the University of Alabama.
