Box ScoreRICHMOND, Va. (Nov. 6) – The Vulcans suffered a 96-60 loss in an exhibition at VCU on Friday night.
The Rams were picked fifth in the preseason Atlantic 10 poll despite winning the league tournament last year. VCU is led by first-year head coach Will Wade after he spent the previous two seasons at Chattanooga following a stint as an assistant at VCU under Shaka Smart, who is now the head coach at Texas.
Senior guard
Khalil Jabbie (Alexandria, Va./Edison) led the team with 11 points after making 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. He also collected a team-leading seven rebounds and five assists while playing 33 minutes.
Fellow senior
Richard Smith (Cleveland, Ohio/Lutheran East) added nine points, six rebounds and two blocks against the Rams on Friday. Sophomores
Tony Richardson (Sterling, Va./Dominion) and
Daniel Sapp (Streetsboro, Ohio Streetsboro) each added seven points and four rebounds in the loss.
VCU opened the game on a 7-2 run before Cal U trimmed the deficit to 12-11 on a three-pointer by junior
Drew Cook (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver Falls) with 13:34 left in the first half. The Rams answered by stretching the lead to 20-14 before the Vulcans scored six-straight points to tie the score at 20-20 on a layup by Sapp at the 8:48-mark. VCU then answered with a 10-1 run over nearly three minutes to take a 30-21 lead with 5:56 remaining in the first half. The Rams eventually took a 44-31 lead at halftime after shooting over 45 percent.
The Rams made the opening basket of the second half to stretch the lead to 16 points, 47-31, before the Vulcans cut the deficit to 47-36 on a jumper by Jabbie with 17:01 left to play. VCU then mounted a 16-5 run to stretch the lead to 75-53 with 6:23 remaining in the game and eventually stretched the lead to as many as 36 points, 96-60, with five seconds left.
VCU senior Melvin Johnson scored a game-high 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting while playing 25 minutes. Junior guard Torey Burston Burgess added 16 points off the bench and senior guard Korey Billbury registered a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Vulcans finished the game shooting 27.0 percent (17-of-63) from the floor and 77.8 percent (21-of-27) from the free-throw line. In comparison, the Rams shot at a 45.5 clip (35-of-77) from the field and 62.5 percent (20-of-32) from the charity stripe. VCU finished with a sizeable 60-37 rebounding advantage and scored 54 points from inside the paint.
Cal U opens the regular season in just over a week when it plays at a tip-off tournament hosted by West Liberty on Nov. 14-15.
