VCU breaks St. Bonaventure curse in comeback win

After failing to beat St. Bonaventure in its last four meetings, VCU came out on top and avenged its only Atlantic 10 conference loss on Jan. 25 at The Stuart C. Siegel Center. The Rams defeated St. Bonaventure 75-61 to increase their winning streak to six straight games.

VCU played a sloppy and underwhelming first half of basketball, going into halftime down 33-25 and being out-rebounded 29 to 12 while only shooting 31% from the field. Before the half, it looked as if the Bonnies would end the Rams’ undefeated home record and continue to be a thorn in their side.

However, a strong start to the second half saw the Rams overcome a 10-point deficit, with the spark coming defensively from freshman forward Luke Bamgboye.

Bamgboye built upon his great defensive season with four blocks and two steals in the game. Bamgboye currently leads the A-10 in blocks with 40 and blocks per game with 2.1.

“He’s a guy that every day is seeking film, he’s seeking help from his coaches and his teammates, and you know he’s just doing a really good job,” VCU coach Ryan Odom said.

VCU graduate student guard Joe Bamisile and graduate student guard Phillip Russell took over the second half offensively for the Rams.

Russell came out of the locker room with the hot hand, hitting his first three 3-pointers, helping light the fire under VCU and bringing hope to the crowd of over 7,600.

Bamisile upheld the momentum, scoring 18 points after having zero at halftime. Bamisile finished the game leading in points while also leading in assists with six.

“I take shots when I’m open and when I shoot them and they go in, I thank God,” Bamisile said, “In the second half, I was thanking god.”

VCU took the game by the horns in no small part thanks to its fastbreak points. The Rams finished the game with 22 fastbreak points compared to five from the Bonnies.

“There’s a lot of different ways that our transition game can go. And I think over the last few games, we’ve begun to play a little bit faster, which is something that we certainly are focused on.” Odom said.

The Rams’ trademark aggressive press defense eventually tired out the Bonnies (15-6, 3-5 Atlantic 10), who had four players play over 38 minutes in the game. VCU forced nine turnovers in the second half and scored seven points from them. VCU also found success from its bench unit, out-scoring St. Bonaventure 15-0 in bench points throughout the game.

The Rams now sit first in the A-10 rankings with a 16-4 overall record and 6-1 in the conference. VCU will look to continue their six-game win streak as they face third-place Saint Louis University. The game will take place at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday, Jan. 28, at the Chaifetz Arena in Saint Louis.