There was plenty of motivation to go around on both sides of the court as the Saint Louis Bilikens traveled to Richmond, Virginia to take on the hot Virginia Commonwealth University Rams. In an Atlantic 10-preseason poll, the Bilikens were picked to finish No. 1 in the conference while the Rams were picked to finish seventh. Well before this game, the Rams came in as the No. 1 team in the conference while the Bilikens sat at No. 7. Coming into this contest with a record of 17-10, the Bilikens wanted to prove that they should be the team to beat in the conference while the Rams are hungry to prove that they belonged at the top spot. In the end, VCU did prove it, beating Saint Louis 71-65 in a gritty win.
The Rams shot out of the gates quickly, getting some easy buckets inside with sophomore forward Marcus Santos-Silva getting the team off to a 6-0 lead that forced an early timeout from Saint Louis.
Forward Isaac Vann and guards Marcus Evans and De’Riante Jenkins were aggressive early defensively; diving for loose balls, getting deflections in the passing lanes and making it tough for the Bilikens to get off a shot. Saint Louis responded however, and brought the score close by attacking the paint with forward Hassan French who was getting there at will. He logged 16 points on the game on 8-10 shooting from the field.
The problem the Bilikens’ had in the first half was going 0-4 from three-point range and allowing the Rams to catch fire from three, hitting seven including three from Evans. The junior from Chesapeake, Virginia recorded 15 points on 5-8 shooting and carried the Black and Yellow in that first half to put the Rams at a 41-27 lead.
VCU was the more physical team in the first half but, given the fact that the only reason the team was leading by double digits was their sharp shooting from three, one knew that if the players started to cool down, Saint Louis could make a run.
After the promising early start, the Rams came out flat in the second half and started missing the threes that they had been knocking down in the first. The Bilikens brought heavy full-court pressure and began forcing turnovers and getting to the free throw line and before the fans knew it, halfway through the second period, it was a two-point ballgame, 50-48.
Once it got close, the crowd started to get antsy. But the Rams went on a 6-0 run to push the lead back to eight. There have been times this season that, when a team has made a run coming back from a deficit against VCU; it has spent so much energy closing the gap that it hasn’t had enough gas in the tank for a home-stretch finish. This was not the case with the Bilikens. Saint Louis seemed determined to prove to the Rams that they should be in that No. 1 conference spot and the squad continued to fight, even in the final minutes.
The Rams led 67-60 with 43 seconds left.
After a Saint Louis guard Jordan Goodwin three-pointer and a free throw off a turnover, within a matter of second the Bilikens were within three. The Rams’ Vann closed the deal however at the line with two free throws while Jenkins made some flagrant foul shots and VCU put the hard-fought game on ice, 71-65.
In the end, Evans led the team in scoring with 20 points and Vann had 16 points on 5-9 shooting.
The Rams have now improved to 22-6 on the season and 13-2 in the Atlantic-10 conference while Saint Louis dropped to 17-11 and 8-7 in conference play. The Black and Yellow next takes on their crosstown rival, the University of Richmond Spiders, who are 10-15 on the season. The last time these two teams played, VCU defeated Richmond 81-60.