Final: VCU 60 George Washington 50
VCU made the trip to the Nation’s Capital coming off a rousing double digit win against George Mason. Lying in wait was a George Washington team that blew out the Rams, 80-56, last season. VCU was having none of that tonight. They would leave Foggy Bottom with a 10 point win.
The Rams started off red hot shooting the ball in the first half. How hot? In the first 12:07 of the game, they were shooting 75% from the floor (9-12). The Rams would shoot 58.3% from the floor in the first 20 minutes. But despite the torrid shooting, they couldn’t pull away only leading by as much as six points in the half.
The Colonials would stay close via the free throw line and would use an 8-0 run to take a 24-22 lead. George Washington would attempt 12 free throws in the first half compared to two for VCU.
The Rams would wrestle back the lead on the strength of a 12-6 run to close out the half. During the run, De’Riante Jenkins would score 8 of the 12 points.
Halftime: VCU 34 George Washington 30
The second half started off completely opposite of the first half. In the first two minutes of the half, only two points had been scored between the two teams. In the same time period, the teams had combined for 6 turnovers.
VCU would eventually get on track as George Washington wouldn’t get a basket for the first 6:17 of the half. During that period, the Rams would go on a 8-0 run pushing the lead up to 12.
George Washington didn’t go away. The Colonials were able to get to within four points with 1:55 left. But the Rams would close the game on an 8-2 run.
Final: VCU 60 George Washington 50
Player of the Game: De’Riante Jenkins 14 points, 5 rebounds
In a game that had it’s offensive struggles, Jenkins contributed heavily to the run at the end of the first half.
Quotables:
“If we didn’t foul. Just have some undisciplined fouls probably would have had them under 40” – VCU Coach Mike Rhoades
“We got away from being ball tough, it’s a shame because I thought we played hard” – GW Coach Maurice Joseph
Notes:
VCU took sole possession of second place in the Atlantic 10 with a win and a George Mason loss.
VCU Coach Mike Rhoades with De’Riante Jenkins and Marcus Santos-Silva
Coach Maurice Joseph with Maceo Jack
