Photos & Game Summary: Rams Net Their First Win Friday Night

Official VCU Game Summary

Score: VCU 75, Samford 65
Location: Richmond, Va (Siegel Center)
Records: VCU 1-1, Samford 0-2

The Short Story: Four Rams scored in double figures and VCU overcame a double-digit first-half deficit on the way to its first victory of the season Friday night at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

OPENING TIP

• Senior guard Max Shulga finished with a team high 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He also grabbed four rebounds and went 4-of-7 from beyond the arc
• In addition to Shulga, senior guard Zeb Jackson, sophomore forward Christian Fermin and redshirt sophomore guard Jason Nelson all reached double digits
• Fermin recorded the first double-double of his career with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He added five blocked shots
• Nelson had 11 points off the bench and a career-best six steals
• The Bulldogs were led by Jermaine Marshall with 20 points and 10 points

THE DIFFERENCE

• The Rams fell behind by eight early in the second period, but whittled the deficit down to a one-possession game before finally taking the lead on a Fermin and-one at the seven-minute mark of the half
• Samford would tie the game shortly following, but the Rams pushed their lead to as many as eighth before Samford began fouling down the stretch to save time as VCU closed it out by ten
• VCU shot 42 percent (11-of-26) from the field in the first half and 56 percent (14-of-25) in the second, as they chipped away at the Bulldog lead
• VCU got off to a slow start, turning the ball over nine times in the first half on the way to a 13-points deficit at the 7:09 mark
• In the last five minutes of the first half, the Rams used a 17-4 run to trim the deficit to three. During that stretch the Rams forced three Samford turnovers

NOTABLE

• The win was Head Coach Ryan Odom’s first since taking over the program
• VCU improved to 3-0 all-time against Samford
• The Black and Gold blocked six shots and outscored the Bulldogs 40-30 in the paint
• The Rams owned a 26-16 advantage in bench points

NEXT UP
VCU will return to the Siegel Center next week on Wednesday, Nov. 15 to host Radford at 7 p.m.