Ace Baldwin Jr. had a career-high 28 points to lead VCU to a 70-65 win over Vanderbilt on Wednesday at the Siegel Center.
Baldwin was 7-of-14 from the floor and connected on 10-of-12 free throws in his first game back since suffering a right wrist injury on Nov. 12.
Jamir Watkins joined Baldwin Jr. in double figures with 13 points, just two off of his career-high 15.
Tobi Lawal added a career-high four points and put in a solid defensive effort in 12 minutes of action for the Rams (5-2).
Vanderbilt (3-4) had three players score in double figures, led by Myle Stute’s 20 points, who hit 6-of-9 from beyond the three-point arc.
Liam Robbins and Ezra Manjon added 14 and 12 points, respectively.
The game featured a run of three technical fouls called on Vanderbilt with 7:59 on the clock and the Rams up, 54-51 – one on Robbins and two on head coach Jerry Stackhouse, who was ejected.
Baldwin made 4-of-6 free throws to give VCU a 58-51 lead.
The Commodores later put together a 9-0 run to tie the game at 61 with 3:56 remaining.
Baldwin pushed the Rams in front for the final time with a pair of free throws with 3:14 remaining. Vanderbilt later pulled within 66-64, but Baldwin answered again, driving left of the lane for bucket with 51 ticks on the clock.
Watkins helped salt away the win with a fadeaway jumper to beat the shot clock with 16.8 seconds remaining.
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Chris Graham
