VCU will play in their 8th A-10 Tournament Finals appearance in just 11 seasons as the Rams took down the Hawks of St. Joseph's Univeristy 66-60 in the Sem-Finals contest on Saturday.
Just one game after being held without a field goal, Senior Max Shulga lead all scorers with 25 points on 10-11 shooting from the field.
The Rams shot a scorching 67% from inside the arc against the Hawks; while connecting on just 20% of their 20 three-point attempts.
VCU scored 42 of their points in the paint including 8 points off of fastbreak opportunities.
SJU was held beneath their season average from behind the line making just 8 of their 27 triples en route to a 44% shooting day from the field.
Zeb Jackson had himself a day on the glass grabbing a team-high 8 rebounds to go with his 12 points.
Sean Bairstow was the only other Ram in double-digit scoring with 13 points.
Bairstow scored a layup off a SJU turnover to secure his 1,000 career point.
The Rams had 10 steals with accounted for more than half of the 14 Hawks turnovers. VCU was able to convert those turnovers into 13 points.
Despite shooting just 50% from the free throw line, the Rams connected on 3 of their 4 made free throws in the final 12 seconds of regulation.
In a back-and-forth game that saw 12 ties and 9 lead changes, Joe Bamisile hit his first field goal to give the Rams a 57-55 lead.
One the Rams would surrender for the remainder of the game.
Bamisiles first basket started an 11-5 run that the Rams would use to close out the game.
With the win this afternoon, VCU improves to 8-0 in Semifinal games since joining the A-10.
The Rams will face the winner of Duquesne and St. Bonaventure in tomorrows Championship game at 1pm EST. That game will be broadcast on CBSSN with the winner getting an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Just one game after being held without a field goal, Senior Max Shulga lead all scorers with 25 points on 10-11 shooting from the field.
The Rams shot a scorching 67% from inside the arc against the Hawks; while connecting on just 20% of their 20 three-point attempts.
VCU scored 42 of their points in the paint including 8 points off of fastbreak opportunities.
SJU was held beneath their season average from behind the line making just 8 of their 27 triples en route to a 44% shooting day from the field.
Zeb Jackson had himself a day on the glass grabbing a team-high 8 rebounds to go with his 12 points.
Sean Bairstow was the only other Ram in double-digit scoring with 13 points.
Bairstow scored a layup off a SJU turnover to secure his 1,000 career point.
The Rams had 10 steals with accounted for more than half of the 14 Hawks turnovers. VCU was able to convert those turnovers into 13 points.
Despite shooting just 50% from the free throw line, the Rams connected on 3 of their 4 made free throws in the final 12 seconds of regulation.
In a back-and-forth game that saw 12 ties and 9 lead changes, Joe Bamisile hit his first field goal to give the Rams a 57-55 lead.
One the Rams would surrender for the remainder of the game.
Bamisiles first basket started an 11-5 run that the Rams would use to close out the game.
With the win this afternoon, VCU improves to 8-0 in Semifinal games since joining the A-10.
The Rams will face the winner of Duquesne and St. Bonaventure in tomorrows Championship game at 1pm EST. That game will be broadcast on CBSSN with the winner getting an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
