Drew Thompson, Sports Editor
No. 2 VCU men’s basketball advanced to its fourth consecutive conference championship appearance after beating No. 3 Saint Joseph’s University 77-64 in the Betterment Atlantic 10 tournament.
VCU won the tip and opened the scoring off a quick layup from redshirt fourth-year guard Jadrian Tracey. St. Joe’s responded on the following possession, before a second layup gave it an early 4-2 lead.
Despite the opening basket, VCU struggled to find paydirt early. The Rams suffered through a two minute scoring drought with four straight misses to start the game.
The tempo was high in the opening four minutes with both teams getting shots up early in their possessions. VCU’s Tracey hit a corner three to regain the lead, and first-year guard Nyk Lewis followed with one of his own.
The Rams defense picked up from where it left off in the quarterfinals, forcing the Hawks on a five minute scoring drought and capitalizing with an electric 21-2 run.
“We definitely feed off any type of energy we get, especially from the fans travelling out here just to see us compete,” VCU second-year guard Terrence Hill Jr. said.
St. Joe’s disrupted the run with a three, but Tracey immediately responded with a three to keep VCU up 26-9 halfway through the first.
The Rams kept the momentum flowing with a three from fourth-year forward Barry Evans and a layup from Hill that propelled a new 8-0 run.
The Hawks stopped the bleeding with a quick 5-0 run, however the offense halted just as fast as it started. The Rams did not slow down on either side, forcing four straight misses while increasing their lead to 41-17.
VCU went into halftime with a commanding 23 point lead. The Rams outclassed the Hawks in nearly every statistical category. VCU shot 42% from the field to St. Joe’s 27%, 39% from three to 17%, while grabbing five steals and forcing six turnovers.
“When you focus on the right things, then those over things happen,” VCU head coach Phil Martelli Jr. “It can’t be the other way around.”
Tracey had a superb first half offensively for VCU with a game-high 15 points on 75% shooting. The Rams had nine players featured in the first, and all went into halftime on the score sheet.
St. Joe’s opened the second half scoring with a three and VCU responded immediately with a layup from Lewis.
The Hawks briefly brought it to 16 with an 8-0 run as the Rams struggled to score out the gates with a three minute scoring drought. VCU’s Hill swiftly broke the momentum with a pull-up midrange jumper to keep the Rams firmly ahead.
Hill continued to make his mark with seven straight points, featuring two crafty finishes around the rim and a fadeaway jumper as both sides traded buckets.
VCU continued with more of the same as third-year forward Lazar Djokovic got into the paint for one dunk, before dunking on a St. Joe’s defender on the ensuing possession.
Third-year guard Tyrell Ward joined in with another dunk, making it three straight for the Rams with seven minutes to play.
St. Joes still showed fight however, slowly clawing the deficit back to 16 as VCU went four minutes without a field goal. Hill once again broke the cold spell with a pull-up jumper from the block.
VCU coasted from there with a 77-64 win over St. Joe’s. Hill finished with a game-high 18 points, while Lewis contributed eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
VCU will play in the A-10 conference championship against No. 4 University of Dayton on Sunday, March 15 at 1 p.m. at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.