Rams bully past the Raiders in exhibition game, 88-53

In their lone exhibition game of the season, the Rams defeated the visiting Raiders of Shippensburg, 88-53.

VCU used 47% shooting from range in the first half to jump out to an early 22-13 lead.

The Raiders rattled off a 7-0 run that pulled them within a single possession with a chance to take their first lead of the evening with just over 8 minutes remaining in the first half.

Jamir Watkins hit a three just before the media timeout to push the Rams back out to a 5-point lead.

Watkins finished the night with 10 points and 4 rebounds.

After that timeout, the Rams owned the remainder of the first half allowing just one more field goals from the Raiders on the last attempts.

To make matters worse for the Raiders, they also turned the ball over 7 time in the final 8 minutes—despite having just 1 turnover in the first 12 minutes.

During the final 7:42 of the first half, the Rams used a 16-3 run—including 8 points from Jalen DeLoach—to take a comfortable 38-23 lead into the locker room.

DeLoach ended the night with a game-high 15 points to go with his team-high 5 rebounds.

The second half started with a 13-4 run for the Rams as the Raiders failed to find any rhythm offensively.

VCU shot 57% percent overall from the floor, while connecting on 38% of the shots from distance.

The Rams turned 15 Raider turnovers into 20 points of offense—with 42 points coming in the paint.

The bench contributed 42 points for the Rams—including 11 points from local freshman, Fats Billups.

VCU will return to action on Nov. 7th as the Rams host Manhattan for the official first game of the 2022-2023 season. That game is set to tip at 7pm ET.

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