Battle 4 Atlantis
Score: VCU 85, LSU 74
Location: Paradise Island, Bahamas (Imperial Arena)
Records: VCU 5-1, LSU 4-2
The short story: Senior JeQuan Lewis pumped in a game-high 19 points – including the 1,000th of his career – and junior Justin Tillman added 17 points and 8 rebounds to lead VCU past LSU in VCU’s Battle 4 Atlantis finale.
OPENING TIP
- Tillman set the tone in the first half with 8 points, 7 rebounds and a blocked shot as the Rams took a 40-33 lead. Tillman converted 8-of-9 shots in the game.
- Lewis poured in 14 of his 19 in the second half as VCU built a 19-point lead. His final bucket, off a steal with 22 seconds remaining, gave him 1,000 career points. He is the 36th player in school history to reach that plateau. He also handed out a season-high 9 assists.
- Redshirt freshman guard Samir Doughty added a season-high 12 points and 7 rebounds for VCU.
- In all, nine players scored for the Rams in a balanced effort.
- The Rams shot .492 (32-of-65) from the field in the game and forced 18 turnovers.
- Antonio Blakeney and Skylar Mays paced LSU with 14 points apiece.
THE DIFFERENCE
- VCU committed a season-low eight turnovers in the game. Meanwhile, the Rams turned 18 LSU turnovers into 19 points.
- LSU trimmed the VCU lead to six at 46-40 on a Blakeney jumper with 17:27 left. But VCU subsequently embarked on 16-7 burst, including five straight points from senior Doug Brooks, to take a 62-47 lead with 12:28 remaining. The Tigers never seriously threatened again, and the Rams led by as many as 19 points four times.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- VCU point guards Lewis and junior Johnny Williams combined for 13 assists and just one turnover.
- The Rams committed just 17 turnovers in their final two Battle 4 Atlantis contests.
QUOTABLE
“We’re thrilled to leave here 2-1. Overall it was a really good tournament for us. We lost to the champion. I thought we got better the longer we were here. We were in the same position today as we were Wednesday and we were better today than we were Wednesday. I’m proud of my guys. They did a great job rallying. We put a lot into that Baylor game and we came up short, and we rallied, and to come up with two wins and hopefully this is something we can build on for the rest of this season. It was a great experience for us and we’re very thrilled to be 2-1 leaving here.” – VCU Coach Will Wade
UP NEXT
VCU will host Princeton on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. at the E.J. Wade Arena at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. That game will be televised by MASN.
