Wednesday, December 02, 2020

VCU Game 4: Penn St. Wins with Buzzer-Beater

Penn State 72, VCU 69

Location: University Park, Pa. (Bryce Jordan Center)

Records: VCU 2-2, Penn State 2-0

 

The short story: Senior forward Levi Stockard III provided a team-high 13 points, his most in a VCU uniform, but Penn State’s Myles Dread hit a 3-pointer from the right wing at the buzzer to give the Nittany Lions a 72-69 win Wednesday night in Happy Valley.

 

OPENING TIP

·      Stockard, a transfer from Kansas State, connected on 5-of-7 attempts from the field and helped fuel a late VCU comeback

·      Sophomore guard Bones Hyland added 11 points and six rebounds to the Black and Gold cause

·      Freshman point guard Ace Baldwin added seven points, six assists and two steals, with just one turnover, for VCU

·      Seth Lundy led all players with 32 points for Penn State. He was 11-of-19 from the floor, including 5-of-10 from 3-point range

 

THE DIFFERENCE

·      VCU freshman swingman Jamir Watkins nearly sent the game to overtime when he drove the left baseline for a game-tying reverse layup with 8.5 seconds remaining. Following a Penn State timeout, Jamari Wheeler swung the ball around to Dread, who connected on his only field goal of the game to give PSU the victory at the final horn

·      The Rams trailed 68-60 with 3:46 left, but Hyland ignited a 9-1 VCU burst with a 3-pointer from the right wing in transition to tie the game at 69-all

·      Penn State outrebounded VCU 37-34, including 12-8 on the offensive glass

·      VCU crept within 55-53 with 8:02 left, but Lundy sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a trey by teammate Sam Sessoms to push the Nittany Lions to a 64-56 advantage with 5:53 remaining

 

NOTABLE

·      This was the first-ever meeting between VCU and Penn State

·      VCU sophomore forward Hason Ward came off the bench to supply nine points and five rebounds

·      The Rams freshman class of Watkins, Baldwin, Josh Banks and Mikeal Brown-Jones combined to give VCU 20 points and nine assists

 

NEXT UP

VCU will host Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. in its home opener at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. 


-- Game notes from Chris Kowalczyk, VCU Assistant A.D

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