Rams cough up 15-point lead; Wolfpack wins

Final Score: Nevada 64, VCU 61
Location: TD Arena in Charleston, S.C.
Updated Records: Nevada 5-1, VCU 4-2.

 

In a nutshell: For VCU's Rams fans Friday's game looked a little too much like Thursday night's frustrating overtime loss. Once again, after leading at halftime, a double digit second half lead melted away. Moreover, the Rams actually led for almost 28 minutes of the contest. 

The Rams forced 10 first-half turnovers on the way to a 34-23 halftime lead. At the 17:52 mark VCU was ahead of Nevada by 15 points, 42-to-27. 

Later, after VCU's Zeb Jackson and Max Shulga had combined for 35 points, with five seconds remaining in the game, Nevada’s Kobe Sanders sank a trey to break a 61-point tie. That shot provided the winning margin. 

By the way, in both games in Charleston, veteran guard Joe Bamisile has been out of control too much of his time on the floor. That's a problem that very much needs to be fixed, pronto. 

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

·      Jackson paced VCU's scoring with 18 points; he added seven rebounds and four assists. Shulga chipped in 17 points, five rebounds and four steals. Bamisile added 12 points and five rebounds. Jack Clark kicked in five points, seven rebounds and four assists.

·      Nick Davidson sparked Nevada with 15 points and four assists. 

·      A steal by Jackson led to a Bamisile fast break dunk that gave VCU a 59-58 lead with 2:01 remaining. Following a defensive stop, Shulga drilled a long, step-back jumper to push the Rams in front 61-58 with 1:21 left. But Nevada’s Tre Coleman buried a corner from the right wing on the Wolfpack’s penultimate possession to tie the game at 61-61. Following a missed VCU 3-pointer, Davidson drove the lane and kicked it to Sanders in the left corner for a high-arching triple with five seconds left. A desperation VCU 3-pointer at the final buzzer fell wide.

·      Nevada made 26 trips to the free throw line and knocked down 15. VCU converted 11-of-14 attempts at the stripe.

·      Nevada held the Rams to 39 percent (20-of-51) shooting in the game, including 32 percent (10-of-31) from 3-point range.

·      Jackson hit a stepback 3-pointer from the right wing to provide the Rams with a 50-41 advantage with 10:46 on the clock. But the Wolfpack used seven points from Brandon Love to ignite a 16-2 run over the next five minute to grab a 54-50 lead with 5:47 left

 

BOXSCORE

NEXT UP: VCU will take on Miami (Fla.) on Sunday. Tipoff at 12:30 p.m. in Charleston. That tilt will air on ESPN+.

-- 30 --