Bamisile return sparks Rams 87-78 win

IMAGE Source: VCU Athletics

(RICHMOND, VA) The VCU Rams defeated the Temple Owls 87-78 on Saturday Afternoon. The Rams were coming off a 86-58 win over Alcorn State on December 10th while, Temple also coming off a 78-73 win over UAlbany on December 10th. The main storyline in this game was the season debut of Joe Bamisile. The Rams were led by Zeb Jackson and Max Shulga with 19 Points apiece. The Owls were led by Sam Hofman with 17 Points. 

Christian Fermin put the Rams on the board within 17 seconds in the game. Matteo Picarelli countered as he put the Owls on the board. Joe Bamisile entered the game with 16:27 remaining in the 1st half. Joe scored his first bucket of the season in the 15:41 as he sparked a 6-0 Run for the Rams, to give them a 8-3 lead with 15:12 remaining. Joe Bamisile's 2 three-pointers sparked another 6-0 run as the Rams led 16-7 with 12:11 remaining. The Rams went on an 8-0 run sparked by Zeb Jackson's layup and a pair of Kuany Kuany 3-pointers to give the Rams a 28-14 lead with 8:14 remaining. Temple’s Sam Hofman scored a 3-pointer to end the Owls' 2-minute scoring drought. Following the 3-pointer by Hofman, the Rams Went on a 12-0 run, giving the Rams a 40-17 lead with 4:21 remaining. With 4:00 remaining in the half Emmanuel Okpomo sank 2 free throws to end the Owls' 4-minute scoring drought The Rams enjoyed their biggest lead of the day as they led 45-22 with 2:45 remaining. Rams took a 50-31 lead into halftime   

Sam Hofman's 3-pointer cut the Rams lead to 16 to start the 2nd half. Temple went on a 7-0 Run to cut the Rams lead. Temple’s Jahlil White FG with 14:37 remaining cut the Rams lead to 10. Zeb Jackson's 3-pointer ended the Owls' run to put VCU up by 13 (60-47, 14:08 remaining in the game). The Rams countered with a 7-0 Run to put the Rams up 73-55 with 6:49 remaining. The Owls went cold for nearly 3 minutes until Steve Settle scored an FG with 6:06 remaining in the game. The Owls scratched and clawed in the final minutes but fell short to the Rams 87-78. 

Box Score 

At the Podium 

After today's win, we spoke with Head Coach Ryan Odom, Kuany Kuany, Zeb Jackson & Joe Bamisile.

What's Next

- The Rams (6-5 ) return to the STU on Friday, December 22nd as they face the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. The tip-off is 7 pm.

Rams fall to Memphis in OT Thriller

IMAGE SOURCE: Memphis Athletics

 (Richmond, VA) The VCU Rams fell to the Memphis Tigers 85-80 in Overtime.  VCU was coming off a heartbreaking loss to Norfolk State on December 1st. Memphis also came into this game with a loss to Ole Miss on December 2nd. This was the 9th matchup between these two teams as the Tigers' record is 6-3. The last time Memphis headed to VCU was February 5th, 1990 as the Rams won 70-69 in overtime. Toibu Lawal led the Rams in scoring with 16, & David Jones scored 23 points to lead the Tigers.

 Kuany Kuany scored the 1st FG of the game (18:24 remaining in the 1st half). Memphis’s David Jones scored the 1st point as he connected on 1 of 2 free throws (19:44 remaining ) and also scored the 1st FG for the Tigers (18:00 remaining in the half) to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead. Rams led 19-9 ( 11:58 remaining ), their biggest lead in the 1st half. The Tigers counted with a 9-0 run to tie the game at 22 with 6:05 left. The Rams had a four-point lead by 4 by Max Shulga's layup, Shulga missed a free throw & Toibu Lawal's rebound led to a put-back bucket with/ 5:40 left. Memphis’s David Jones FG tied the game at 30 with 2:46 remaining. Rams headed into halftime w/ a 36-32 lead. 

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Memphis’s David Jones layup (17:48 remaining in the game) tied the game at 38. Christian Fermin layup with 17:07 left put the Rams up 40-38. Jahvon Quinerly hit a 3 with 3:28 left to tie the game at 67. Memphis took their 1st lead since the 1st half as Caleb Mills hit two free throws to give the Tigers a 69-67 lead (2:21 left). Max Shugla and Toibu Lawal hit clutch shots in the final minute as the Rams had a 1-point lead (72-71). Malcolm Dandridge hit 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game at 72 with .20 secs left in the game. The game headed to overtime. 

 Sixteen seconds into Overtime Jaykwon Walton hit a 3-pointer to give the Tigers a 75-72 lead. Jason Nelson hit a 3 to the game 77 with 2:41 left in OT. Jahvon Quinerly's free throw with 1:25 left and Nick Jourdain's layup with .52 seconds left put the Tigers up 81-78. A pair of made free throws by Jahvon Quinerly & David Jones sealed the deal for the Tiger's 85-80 win. 

BOX Score

At The Podium 

After Tonight's loss, we spoke with Head Coach Ryan Odom, Max Shugla & Alphonzo “ Fats” Billups 

What's Next?

The Rams (4-5) will face Alcorn State on Sunday, December 10th at the STU. The tip-off for Sunday’s game is 2 pm.

Rams survive to improve to 3-1

Final Score

VCU 60 Seattle U 56

Game Recap

(Richmond, VA) The VCU Rams defeated Seattle University Redhawks 60-56. VCU coming off their biggest win of the season as they defeated Radford 73-50. Seattle traveled over 2,800 miles to face the Rams in their 1st road game of the Season. Zeb Jackson scored his career-high 20 points to lead the Rams, while Kobe Willamson led the Redhawks with 17 points.

Kuany Kuany got the Rams on the scoreboard 36 seconds in this game. The Rams started strong with their biggest lead in the first half (13) with 8:01 remaining in the first half (Rams 21 Redhawks 8). Seattle stormed back with a 9-0 run to cut into the Rams Lead. Kobe Williamson's free throw with 2:56 remaining in the first half made it a tied game (25-25). With 2:44 remaining in the half Roosevelt Wheeler committed a flagrant 2 foul and was ejected for the Rams. Red Hawks Vasja Pandza's free throw following the Flagrant 2 foul gave Seattle their 1st lead (26-25). Redhawks added another field goal with 2:18 left to put them up by 3 points to cap a 20-4 run by the RedHawks. Seattle lead 28-27 entering half-time.

Christian Fermin hit a pair of free throws to give the Rams a 29-28 lead to start the 2nd half. The Redhawks went on a 7-0 run as they led 35-29 with 12:50 remaining in the half. Redhawks grew their biggest lead (49-41 with 06:32 remaining). The Ram roared back as Jason Nelson connected on a 3-pointer with 1:58 left in the game to give the Rams a 54-53 lead. Max Shulga connected on two pairs of free throws to add to the Rams' lead in the final minute & Zeb Jackson hit a pair of free throws to cap a 16-5 run to give the Rams a 60-56 win.

Box Score

At The Podium

After today’s win, we spoke with Zeb Jackson, Jason Nelson, Toibu Lawal & Head Coach Ryan Odom.

What's Next?

The Rams (3-0) head down to Kissimmee Florida for the ESPN Events Invitational (November 23-25) & will return to the STU on December 1st as they face Norfolk State, Tip-off is at 7 pm.