Sports Briefs, 2/10

Men’s basketball beats Charlotte behind Brandenberg’s 21

Junior Rob Brandenberg scored 21 points in just 22 minutes to lead VCU (19-5, 7-2) over host Charlotte (17-6, 5-4) 68-61 in Atlantic 10 play Saturday night.

Brandenberg led all scorers shooting 7-of-12 from the floor, including three 3-pointers and hitting all four of his free throw attempts.

The rest of the VCU offense was highly efficient as well, as the Rams posted a field goal percentage of 51.9 percent. Juvonte Reddic and Treveon Graham were the other two Rams to reach double figures, scoring 14 and 12 points respectively. It was Graham’s 17th straight double-digit outing.

Reddic also had a team-high four rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals. Senior point guard Darius Theus facilitated the Rams’ offense with six assists while also adding seven points.

Defensively, the Rams forced 17 turnovers while giving the ball away just 10 times on the other end. Seven VCU players recorded at least one steal in the contest.

While VCU won the turnover battle, Charlotte dominated the glass. The 49ers out-rebounded the Rams 36-to-18, including 17 offensive rebounds, but still came up short in the end.

Willie Clayton and Terrence Williams paced the 49ers’ offense with 13 and 12 points respectively, and Pierria Henry led all players in rebounds with 11. However, Henry and fellow guard Denzel Ingram combined for nine turnovers which ultimately would be Charlotte’s downfall.

The 49ers also missed 10-of-22 free throws while the Rams missed just one of their eight attempts.

VCU will return to action Thursday night to face Massachusetts at the Siegel Center at 9 p.m. The Rams finish the weekend in a three-way tie for first place in the A-10 with Butler and St. Louis also holding 7-2 conference records.

DJ Haley returns to Men’s basketball team

Staff Reports

Junior big man DJ Haley has returned to the team after taking time off for personal reasons.

Haley was not present for VCU’s 81-65 home win over Fordham last Saturday, when head coach Shaka Smart said he did not know when he would rejoin the team.

Haley returned to the team earlier this week and traveled with the Rams to Charlotte for Saturday night’s 68-61 win over the 49ers. He was active and in uniform but did not play in the game.

Sophomore Jarred Guest and senior David Hinton saw additional playing time in Haley’s absence, getting 14 and 13 minutes respectively off the bench at Charlotte. Haley has averaged eight minutes in 22 games played this season.

He is expected to be back on the court when VCU hosts Massachusetts Thursday night.