RICHMOND, V.A. – Virginia State men's basketball battled late Monday night at Virginia Commonwealth University, but the host Rams built an insurmountable lead early in the contest on their way to a 55-74 win.
Virginia State saw a career-high 10 points off the bench from freshman guards
Kylon Lewis and two-sport athlete Darryl Mackey. Lewis also added four rebounds and two assists while Mackey connected on 3-of-4 three pointers in the contest.
Michael Melvin led the team with five dimes in the evening matchup.
VSU shot better from behind the arc than they did from the free throw line in the second half as the Trojans were 43% from the three point line and 38% from the free throw line. The Trojans were more aggressive in the second half and shot more high percentage shots as the squad went 42% from the field and behind the arc with 34 points against the former National Championship contenders.
How It Happened
- The Rams built a first half lead holding VSU to a 25% field goal percentage along with a 16-point lead at the break
- VSU scored their first bucket of the game 15:19 in thanks to a mid-range jumper from Jordan Hernandez to make the score 10-2.
- Heading into the break, Lewis lead the team with four points along with three rebounds followed by Jonathan Norfleet and Cle'Von Greene who had three each.
- The Trojans were only minus two in rebounding at the half as the Rams led just 25-23
- VCU took a 37-21 lead into the locker room at the half.
- At the opening of the second half, the Trojans cut into the lead into the lead with a 6-0 run to bring the score to 41-27.
- The Trojans were outscored 37-34 in the second half as the VSU bench did their best to bring the visiting squad back in the game scoring nine more points than VCU in the second half.
- Mackey scored 10 points in just 10 minutes in the second half shooting 60% from the field and 75% from the three-point line
- Lewis scored six of his 10 points off the bench in the second half shooting 100% from the field
Inside the Box Score
- 43 of VSU's 55 points came from the bench
- Kylon Lewis finished with 10 points, four rebounds and two assists
- Darryl Mackey scored 10 points in only a half of action as he hit 3-of-4 three pointers along with two rebounds
- Virginia State caused the Rams to turn the ball over a total of 17 times
- VSU's three-point defense held the Rams to 28% in the second half
Up Next
VSU heads home for the first home exhibition matchup of the 2021-2022 season against the Gators of Thomas Nelson. Tipoff against the Gators is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. November 7 inside of the VSU Multipurpose center.
