Dukes Outplay Rams, 69-to-59

Final Score: Duquesne 69, VCU 59.
Location: Siegel Center.
Records: Duquesne 19-11, 9-8 in A-10. VCU 19-11, 11-6 A-10.

In a nutshell: Although Bamisile led VCU with 18 points and three boards, Duquesne made sure it wasn't enough. In the closing minutes, the Dukes won the game pulling away from the Rams. Grant paced the visitors' effort with a hot hand, scoring with 26 points.

Due to a back injury, Shulga, VCU’s leading scorer, did not play. Unfortunately, in what was the Rams last home game of the regular season, Shulga's teammates were just not able to close ranks to make up for his sorely missed presence. Two exceptions to that observation were Jackson and Lawal. 

Jackson scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds. Lawal added 11 points and five boards coming off the bench. Overall, he played with the same aggressiveness and growing confidence we've seen from him in recent games. 

Clearly, Shulga's steadiness late in the contest was missed; to add to the Rams' woes, during the game Billips twisted an ankle. Going forward the status of both players is uncertain. 

As this game served as VCU’s annual Senior Day, prior to the contest four graduates -- Bairstow, Jackson, Kuany and Shulga -- were honored on the court in the traditional way. 

NOTES: (Information provided by Chris Kowalczyk, VCU Assistant A.D.)

• Duquesne put together a 31-27 halftime lead. Then VCU took a 41-38 lead on a thunderous fast break dunk by Bairstow at the 15:38 mark of the second half, but that proved to be the Rams’ last hurrah. 
• Duquesne promptly responded with a 15-2 run, punctuated by a dunk by Drame, to take a 53-44 lead with 9:45 remaining. The Rams could get no closer than a six-point difference the rest of the way.
• Duquesne shot 48 percent (13-of-27) from the field in the second half. That included 6-of-13 from 3-point range.
• The Dukes built a 33-to-31 rebounding advantage and knocked down 11-of-12 free throw attempts. VCU made good on nine of its 14 shots from the  charity stripe.
• VCU’s bench outscored Duquesne's bench, 34-to-20.
• VCU leads in the all-time series with Duquesne 8-3.

BOX SCORE

NEXT UP: On Fri., Mar. 8, VCU will visit Dayton for its regular season's last game. Tipoff at 7 p.m. TV: ESPN2.