It's been a long season of injuries and forced roster adjustments for VCU (19-11; 11-6), and the Rams once again needed to find a way to battle adversity if they were going to lock in a Top-4 finish in the A10 race.
Just before Senior Night festivities were set to take place, Rams fans learned that they would be playing without their co-captain, Max Shulga (back spasms).
Prior to tip-off the Rams introduced and honor seniors Sean Bairstow, Kuany Kuany, Zeb Jackson, and Shulga.
Notably absent from that lineup was Joe Bamisile.
After the game Bamisile informed the press that he would be returning to the Rams roster next year. As such, he opted to forego acknowledgement tonight.
Beyond that good news, it was a tough night for the Rams as both Zeb Jackson and Fats Billups appeared to sustain injuries on the court.
Jackson managed to stay in the game and finish the evening—he scored 10 points while also dishing out 2 assists and securing 5 rebounds.
Billups on the other hand needed to be helped off the court as he suffered an apparent ankle injury. In his short 6 minutes of play he was able to knock down one triple and score 5 points overall.
Trailing by just four points at half, the Rams fought back and were able to take a 41-38 after Bairstow connected on a authoritative dunk.
But an ensuing 15-2 run from the the Dukes was too much for the injury-riddled Rams to recover from.
Bamisile led the Rams with 18 points—in part from his four connections from downtown.
Those 18 points from Bamisile were more than half of the 34 points scored by VCU's bench on Tuesday night.
The Rams shot 43% overall from the floor and 36% from distance, but were outrebounded to the tune of 33-31 Dukes advantage.
Tobi Lawal, who grabbed 5 rebounds on the night, was the only other Ram in double-digit scoring with 11 points.
The Rams return to action on Friday, March 8th as they head north to take on the Dayton Flyers. That game is set to tip at 7pm EST and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
VCU will need to upset the Flyers on their Senior Night in order to lock up a double-bye in next weeks A10 Tournament in Brooklyn.
Just before Senior Night festivities were set to take place, Rams fans learned that they would be playing without their co-captain, Max Shulga (back spasms).
Prior to tip-off the Rams introduced and honor seniors Sean Bairstow, Kuany Kuany, Zeb Jackson, and Shulga.
Notably absent from that lineup was Joe Bamisile.
After the game Bamisile informed the press that he would be returning to the Rams roster next year. As such, he opted to forego acknowledgement tonight.
Beyond that good news, it was a tough night for the Rams as both Zeb Jackson and Fats Billups appeared to sustain injuries on the court.
Jackson managed to stay in the game and finish the evening—he scored 10 points while also dishing out 2 assists and securing 5 rebounds.
Billups on the other hand needed to be helped off the court as he suffered an apparent ankle injury. In his short 6 minutes of play he was able to knock down one triple and score 5 points overall.
Trailing by just four points at half, the Rams fought back and were able to take a 41-38 after Bairstow connected on a authoritative dunk.
But an ensuing 15-2 run from the the Dukes was too much for the injury-riddled Rams to recover from.
Bamisile led the Rams with 18 points—in part from his four connections from downtown.
Those 18 points from Bamisile were more than half of the 34 points scored by VCU's bench on Tuesday night.
The Rams shot 43% overall from the floor and 36% from distance, but were outrebounded to the tune of 33-31 Dukes advantage.
Tobi Lawal, who grabbed 5 rebounds on the night, was the only other Ram in double-digit scoring with 11 points.
The Rams return to action on Friday, March 8th as they head north to take on the Dayton Flyers. That game is set to tip at 7pm EST and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
VCU will need to upset the Flyers on their Senior Night in order to lock up a double-bye in next weeks A10 Tournament in Brooklyn.
