By PAUL GOTHAM
PITTSBURGH, PA — For the first 32 minutes of Friday’s Atlantic 10 quarter-final matchup between the VCU Rams and George Mason Patriots, JeQuan Lewis managed just two points. The Rams senior point guard who had averaged more than 14 points a game through the regular season had hit just one of six first-half shots.
Lewis poured in 11 during a decisive 19-4 run late in the second half.
“I just thought I’d be more aggressive,” Lewis said. “We were settling a lot for perimeter shots and Coach was just staying on us about getting in the paint. So we just ran plays to get us driving downhill and get paint touches.”
His drive late in the shot clock drew contact. After a free throw, the senior point guard knotted the game at 48. After a Doug Brooks triple, he went end to end for two more and the Rams had a lead they did not surrender.
“Yeah, I missed six shots in the first half but I just followed through with my routine and kept shooting it,” He explained. “Eventually I knew it was going to fall.”
The Dickson, Tennessee native followed with a catch-and-shoot trey from the left corner. His pull-up 3-ball made it a double-digit game, and George Mason never cut the deficit to single digits again.
“Sometimes he passes good shots up, and I wish he’d be more aggressive sometimes,” VCU head coach Will Wade said. “But you know, part of that is probably on me. I mean, they hear ‘pound it in the paint’ in their sleep. I’m relentless about that.
“So they know, especially early, I have a quick hook if you don’t get that thing in the paint. Sometimes they probably, you know, don’t spend enough time throwing — you know, looking for their own stuff. But we find a good balance usually as the game goes along.”
The win was the third this year for VCU over the Patriots. Lewis had just one point in VCU’s 72-60 win six days ago to close the A-10 regular season. He handed out eight assists in that contest.
“Obviously in the last six minutes of the game, we work on that stuff all the time,” Wade explained. “We talk about that being winning time.”
Finding The Range
VCU came into the game averaging less than six 3-pointers made per contest and had connected a combined nine times in their four previous contests. Led by freshman De’Riante Jenkins, the Rams hit 7 of 14 from long range.
“We executed in those final six minutes, and you know, when we were making threes like that, that scoreboard adds up pretty quickly,” Wade noted. “That was a big help.”
Jenkins missed 15 games during the conference season with a foot injury and played just eight total minutes over the last two games. Friday, the 6-foot-5 guard connected on all three of his attempts from long range and finished with a career-high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting overall.
“Glad to be back out there with my guys and having fun,” Jenkins said.
Up Next
VCU (25-7) will take on the winner of Richmond and George Washington in Saturday’s semi-final. VCU beat Richmond twice this season by scores of 84-73 and 81-74. The Rams beat the Colonials, 85-55.
Leave a Reply