The Capital City Classic couldn’t have been a better game as the hottest team in the A-10 — the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams — traveled to Robins Center to take on their arch-rival; the University of Richmond Spiders. This competition has been going on since 1976 and Saturday night added another chapter to the story as the Rams held off the Spiders, 69-66. VCU leads the all-time series 52-30.
Robins Center was a neutral site for the game as Ram Nation made a strong appearance, cheering on their team.
Both teams were sloppy early, turning the ball over and taking bad shots. But the Black and Yellow eventually settled in and started to look like the team fans have been watching for most of the season.
VCU hasn’t shot the ball well on the road in the past but in the first half, the team played its style of ball: that of a dominating defense which leads to instant offense. The Rams forced 13 Spider turnovers in the first half, crowding the ball and pressuring Richmond’s offensive players that were contesting shots.
In the previous matchup, Spiders forward Grant Golden shot an efficient 7-9 with 15 points and he scored the first seven points of the game. But this time, VCU made it tough on the sophomore and he finished this first half with zero points. As well, he contributed five turnovers to the Rams.
VCU’s Marcus Evans (point guard) was efficient in the first half, recording 10 points on 4-7 shooting and his team led the contest 34-24 going into halftime.
One problem with this VCU team is that, for most of the season, when it gets a double-digit lead in the first half; it has difficulty maintaining it. The Rams tend to go on long scoring droughts and miss defensive assignments. They can wear opponents down because they’re so busy expending energy trying to make a come-back. But then when it’s time to win the game, they are out of gas.
Head Coach Mike Rhoades has spoken about the “Army” mentality of his team… i.e., how the depth of the Rams can wear on the opposition. This forces decisions out of character because of mental fatigue.
One example of the phenomena in this game was when, half-way through it, the Spiders clawed their way back from a deficit to take a two-point lead. But the Rams responded with players coming off the bench — because of their depth —and a player like junior guard Malik Crowfield scored 14 huge points as well as four threes. In the second half, when the game was tied at 45 apiece, Crowfield hit three consecutive threes and helped propel VCU to a big win.
“Every sing day he comes in and just does his job,” Rhoades said of Crowfield after the victory. “He’s coachable. When you help your teammates, they help you and you have nights like this where you come up with a pivotal performance.”
There’s little doubt that Crowfield will see more playing time heading into the tournament. His contribution was not just from how he performed, but when he performed. With the game teetering towards the Spiders, he helped close the deal in a big game on the road.
Evans finished with 15 points and guard Isaac Vann had 11 points with a big-time dunk that fired up fans and made it clear that Ram Nation was in the building.
The high-point man for the Spiders was Jacob Gilyard with 23 points.
VCU has now won 10 straight games, have improved to 23-6 on the season and are 14-2 in the Atlantic Conference.