VCU (5-4) relied on their defense to set the tone in the 66-52 win over Jacksonville State on Wednesday evening.
The game also saw the highly anticipated return of sophomore point guard, Ace Baldwin, Jr.
Baldwin open his season scoring hitting a triple—a scoring area the Rams have struggled to find rhythm in this season. From there, Ace would play just 20 minutes of action, but produced 13 points for the Rams.
Despite being out the last 7 months to an achilles injury, Baldwin returned in his first game to tie a career-high 6 steal performance.
The Rams used the first eight minutes of the game to jump out to a 22-5 lead over Jacksonville St.
From there though the Rams struggled to connect on the offensive end as they went the final 8:15 of the first half without a field goal.
Jacksonville St. used the opportunity to close the half with an 11-5 run and the Rams lead trimmed to only 4 points at the half.
The Gamecocks tied the game at 38 points with 13:41 minutes to play, but the Rams responded with a 15-2 run to push ahead.
Over that run, Jayden Nunn scored 11 points for the Rams.
Nunn led all-scorers on the evening with 20 points on 7-8 shooting from the floor. He scored 15 of those in the second half when the Rams needed them most.
While the Rams didn’t win the game on the glass (33-29), their defense was unrelenting in causing the Gamecocks to turn the ball over.
By the end of regulation, JSU had committed 23 turnovers that led to 31 points for the Rams offense.
KeShawn Curry was the only other Ram it double-digit scoring with 10 points.
Levi Stockard led the way for the Rams on the glass with 8 rebounds to go with his 8 points.
VCU’s bench contributed 32 points for the Black & Gold.
The Rams will return to action on Saturday, December 11th as they head down 64E to take on the Monarchs of Old Dominion. That game is set to tip at 7:00pm EST.
