RICHMOND, Va. — Jason Nelson scored 11 points and VCU never trailed after the opening minutes in a 49-47 victory against No. 18 Dayton on Friday night.
The Rams (16-8, 8-3 Atlantic 10) won for the eighth time in their last nine games, despite not scoring for the final six minutes. They held on by holding Dayton scoreless over the last 3:03.
“It was just a rock fight throughout. Really hard-fought game for us,” VCU coach Ryan Odum said. His squad has now beaten all three teams it trails in the A-10 standings.
The Rams went ahead 49-42 on a tip-in by Toibu Lawal with six minutes left, but attempted just four shots from the field the rest of the way. Lawal twice went to the free-throw line for a 1-and-1 opportunity, but each time he missed the first try.
“We manufactured enough baskets with — I’ll call it suspect, because it really was suspect offense,” Odum said. “Our offense was not very good. Down the stretch, we’ve got to be better.”
People are also reading…
The Flyers (19-4, 9-2) fell to 0-2 in Virginia, having lost 69-64 at Richmond on Jan. 27.
“Obviously they did enough to limit us,” Dayton coach Anthony Grant said. “Nights like that, when you struggle offensively, it’s tough. Tough to win. But we had chances.”
The Rams never led by more than eight. VCU had a chance to make it a two-possession game in the final minute, but DaRon Holmes II blocked Sean Bairstow's layup attempt with 30 seconds left.
Holmes then got a clean look at a potential tying basket, but missed and a long rebound ended it.
Nate Santos led the Flyers with 19 points and Holmes scored 12.
“Tonight wasn’t a great night for him,” Grant said of Holmes, who made just five of 13 free throws. “Wasn’t a great night for our team. And you've got to give VCU credit. They had a lot to do with that.”
NEVADA 70, NO. 24 SAN DIEGO STATE 66 (OT): Kenan Blackshear scored eight of his 22 points in overtime as Nevada beat San Diego State in Reno.
Tre Coleman made two key steals and the tiebreaking basket in the extra period as the Wolf Pack defeated AP Top 25 teams in back-to-back games for the first time. Nevada (19-5, 6-4 Mountain West) won 77-63 at No. 22 Utah State on Tuesday.
Coleman’s short jumper with 12 seconds left gave Nevada a 68-66 lead. Blackshear added two free throws in the final second after SDSU’s Darrion Trammell missed a 3-point attempt.
Jarod Lucas had 15 points and Nick Davidson scored 14 for the Wolf Pack, who led the entire game until the 3:47 mark of the second half, when the Jay Pal converted a three-point play for the Aztecs.
San Diego State (18-6, 7-4) maintained a narrow lead down the stretch in regulation, but Davidson picked up a loose-ball offensive rebound and laid it in to tie it at 60 with 5.3 seconds to play. He missed the ensuing free throw, and the Aztecs couldn’t get off a shot in the final seconds.
Nevada was hindered by poor free-throw shooting, a bugaboo in recent games. After starting 7 for 8 from the foul line, Nevada made just four of its next 10 attempts and 10 of its next 20.
Jaedon LeDee, a top contender for Mountain West Conference player of the year, was in foul trouble throughout for San Diego State. But he shot 12 for 14 from the free-throw line and finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and seven turnovers.
Trammell added 11 points and Micah Parrish had 10 rebounds and nine points for the Aztecs.
Nevada was outrebounded 44-25 (20-6 on offensive boards) in the first meeting between the teams in San Diego on Jan. 17, a 71-59 Aztecs win. This time, the Wolf Pack had a 34-32 edge on the boards (11-6 on the offensive glass).