VCU defeats Hampton, 69-57

Sophomore forward Marcus Santos-Silva led the Rams with a career-high 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting as VCU topped Hampton 69-57.

VCU forced 17 Pirates’ turnovers and held Hampton to 29 percent shooting (18-of-62) from the field.

Hampton scored first but VCU turned up the heat from there and lead the rest of the way. With the score knotted up at 4-4, the Rams exploded for a 14-4 run that pushed their lead to 22-8 with 11 minutes remaining in the first half.

After the Pirates cut VCU’s lead to 23-11, the Rams went on a 13-3 run to give them their largest lead of the half at 35-15 with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.

With VCU leading 42-26 early in the second half, redshirt sophomore Corey Douglas made a layup to ignite a 7-0 VCU run that gave it a 49-26 with just under 15 minutes left in the second period.

After a Hampton run cut the VCU lead to seven, Evans hit a clutch three followed by a Santos-Silva dunk to push the Rams’ lead back to double digits at 62-50.

The Rams shot 42.6% (23-of-54) from the field led by as many as 25

VCU turned 17 Hampton turnovers into 18 points, scored 36 points in the paint and owned an 8-7 advantage in fast break points

Team Notes

• Santos-Silva provided 16 points, and added four rebounds, one block, and one steal for the Rams
• Redshirt junior guard Marcus Evans followed up his strong VCU debut by posting 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals
• Redshirt junior forward Issac Vann played an all-around game, chipping in seven points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists
• Hampton was led by guard Jermaine Marrow, who provided 25 points and five assists in 35 minutes.
• Seven Rams scored at least five points Friday.
• VCU returns to action on Monday, Nov. 12 at the Siegel Center when the Rams host Bowling Green at 7 p.m. MASN will televise that contest.