Vince Williams Jr. scored 14 of his career-high 26 points in the second half, but a VCU comeback fell short in a 69-65 loss on Saturday.
With the result, VCU (21-8, 14-4 A-10) will be the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament in Washington, D.C. March 9-13.
Williams connected on 7-of-12 attempts from the floor and 9-of-11 at the free throw line. He added four rebounds and a blocked shot.
Sophomore guard Ace Baldwin Jr. scored all 12 of his points in the second-half to aid the VCU rally. He also handed out six assists.
Gibson Jimerson led the Billikens (21-10, 12-6 A-10) with 19 points.
Saint Louis led by as many as 21 points with 17:32 remaining before the Rams started to chip away. Baldwin provided three buckets and Williams hit a pair of 3-pointers to fuel a 12-0 VCU run that pulled the Rams within 66-65 with 47.1 seconds remaining.
Saint Louis’ Yuri Collins was able to drive to the lane for two to stop the bleeding with 26 ticks remaining. VCU had a look from three on its final possession, but could not connect
Even with the setback, VCU has earned a double-bye in the A-10 Tournament and will suit up for a quarterfinal contest on Friday, March 11 at 8:30 p.m. at Capital One Arena. The Rams will face the winner of Thursday’s game between sixth-seeded Richmond and the winner of Wednesday’s Duquesne-Rhode Island first round game.
VCU’s quarterfinal contest can be seen nationally on USA Network.
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