Joe Bamisile scored a season-high-tying 22 points and Max Shulga flirted with a triple-double as VCU handled Miami 77-70 at the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic seventh-place game in Charleston, S.C.
Bamisile was 9-for-17 from the field and chipped in five rebounds. Shulga scored 18 while adding nine assists and eight rebounds. Zeb Jackson added 12 points for VCU (5-2), which snapped a two-game skid.
Lynn Kidd paced Miami (3-3) with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Jalen Blackmon scored 11 and Nijel Pack had 10.
It was another slow start for Miami, who fell behind Drake 13-4 and Oklahoma State 9-0 in previous Charleston Classic losses. The Rams jumped out to a 10-2 lead when Phillip Russell canned a 3-pointer and was fouled. Russell converted the free throw for the four-point play and VCU had an eight-point lead less than three minutes into the game.
The Hurricanes twice got the lead down to five during the first eight minutes of the second half, but the Rams extended their advantage to 16 on a 13-2 run, punctuated by a layup by Jackson with 8:32 to go.
Miami went on a 10-0 run to trim the lead down to 72-66 with 1:22 left, but VCU made enough free throws down the stretch to close out the win.
Miami had also battled back in the first half, cutting the deficit to 20-19 on a layup by A.J. Staton-McCray 10 minutes in.
But the Rams answered by exploding for a 13-2 run, keyed by a pair of 3-pointers from Bamisile, to go up by 12.
Shulga made it a 13-point lead at 39-26 with a 3-pointer with 4:10 to play in the half.
A pair of jumpers by Miami’s Jalil Bethea cut the deficit to 42-33 at the half.
Bamisile, who made as many 3-pointers as the Hurricanes did as a team in the first half (four), led both teams with 16 first-half points, while Shulga filled the stat sheet with eight points, eight assists and six rebounds. Bethea paced Miami with seven points at the break.
-Field Level Media
