Richmond, Va. – The VCU Rams extinguished the Liberty Flames 85-57 behind Melvin Johnson’s 15 points. The Rams jumped out to a hot start hitting their first six shots and jumping out to a 12-2 lead. The Rams shot 55% from the field in the first half while playing stifling defense only allowing the Flames to shoot 33%.
The Rams really punished the Flames on the boards outrebounding them 37-23. Justin Tillman grabbed 11 rebounds on his own and Ahmed Hamdy grabbed nine rebounds. In the first half, Tillman and Hamdy outrebounded the Flames entire team 18-13.
The second half played out much like the first half. The Rams started the second half on a 12-4 that included three-pointers from Melvin Johnson, Michael Gilmore, and Korey Billbury. The Black and Gold went up by as much at 37 in the half. Despite a scrappy fight from the Flames, the Rams were able to keep Liberty at distance and cruised to a 28 point lead.
JeQuan Lewis scored at 14 points for the Rams. Jordan Burgess scored 11 points in his first game back after missing two games with a concussion.
With the win, VCU improves to 7-5 with one game left before Atlantic 10 play begins. VCU takes on the North Florida Ospreys in their final out-of-conference game at the Siegel Center on Wednesday at 7:00.
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