The coach changed but not the result. The Rams repeated as A10 Tournament champions behind the guidance of first year coach Phil Martelli jr. The Rams defeated Dayton 70-62 at PPG Paints Area on Sunday. VCU is now 27-7 while the Flyers dropped to 23-11.
VCU 70 Dayton 62
Possessions: 65
Offensive Efficiency: VCU 108, Dayton 96
Kenpom.com MVP: NYK Lewis, VCU. The freshman guard scored 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, both game-high marks.
VCU got out to an early six point lead. A 12-2 run opened it up to a 17 point Ram advantage late in the first half. The lead was 15 at intermission as the Flyers were held to 33 perc ent shooting over those initial twenty minutes.
The second half saw Anthony Grant’s team make a run. The VCU lead was down to just seven with a little under two minutes to play. The Rams closed it out, shooting 7 of 10 from the Charity stripe in the last 1:40.
VCU had a 25-11 lead in fast break points. As noted, Nyk Lewis of VCU scored 17 points to lead the way. Terrence Hill jr. added 14. Javon Bennett led Dayton with 14 points, but was limited to 6 of 16 shooting from the floor. Dayton finished shooting 43% from the floor, 33% (7 of 21) from three. VCU shot 40%, 45% (11 of 24) from long distance. Dayton led 39-34 in the rebounding department. VCU was guilty of just five turnovers while the Flyers had 11.
Next. VCU will face North Thursday in Greenville, S.C. The Ram s are an 11-seed in the NCAA South Region. The meeting with the Tar Heels will be the first in VCU’s basketball history.
Dayton is a two seed in their NIT bracket. Because they are hosting NCAA games, the Flyers will travel to Bradley on Wednesday for their first round matchup.
“To be sitting here at VCU, a program of championships, and to be adding to that legacy, I’m super grateful. And to all the players, the coaches including (former VCU mentor and Dayton coach) Anthony Grant, that came before and the administrators that built this foundation like we’re just standing, and I told Anthony this, we’re just standing on his shoulders. We’re just standing on those people’s shoulders. We’re not the greatest to be here; we’re just the latest to be here and be part of something truly, truly, truly special.’ – Phil Martelli jr.
