Davidson surges to top VCU, mend ‘broken spirit’
Davidson players weren’t calling Saturday afternoon’s 69-63 men’s basketball victory against Virginia Commonwealth a game they had to win.
But Wildcats coach Bob McKillop said it was just what a team with “a broken spirit” needed.
Senior guard Jack Gibbs scored 30 points and senior forward Peyton Aldridge added 24 to help the Wildcats (9-7, 2-3 Atlantic 10), who had lost three of their previous four, ride a late second-half surge to a big conference win in front of a loud packed house of 4.636 at Belk Arena.
Senior guard JeQuan Lewis led four players in double figures for VCU (14-4, 4-1), which had won its last eight games.
“We just wanted to let go and play,” said Davidson junior guard Rusty Riegel, who scored 10 points. “Every game is just one game, and it wasn’t a weight on our shoulders but we knew we could play better than we’ve been playing.”
The win obviously felt big to McKillop, who noted the difficulty of his team’s early schedule and the three close losses – none by more than six points – in recent games.
“It seemed like the other team was making the big shots, the big plays instead of us,” he said. “I think this game revived their spirit.”
In this one, the Wildcats fought off an early deficit to take a 29-26 halftime lead and survived repeated comeback attempts by the Rams.
Three who mattered
Gibbs, Davidson – Scored 15 points in each half, but his 4-of-7 3-point shooting in the second half was a key to the Wildcats’ resurgence.
Aldridge, Davidson – His big game on the defensive boards – accounting for 10 of his game-high 12 rebounds – was a key to limiting the Rams to two second-chance points in the first half.
Lewis, VCU – All of his points came in the second half, and he also gathered eight rebounds.
Observations
▪ On several occasions, Davidson seemed a basket or two away from blowing the game open. The Wildcats never led by more than eight points, and were down one at 51-50 before KiShawn Pritchett’s jump shot with 5:44 to play gave them the lead for good.
▪ The game, physical throughout, had one chippy moment late in the first half when VCU’s Jonathan Williams got tangled up with McKillop as a Rams’ player ran past the Davidson bench, sending the Wildcats coach to the floor. Davidson’s Riegel and VCU’s Doug Brooks drew technical fouls in a confrontation seconds later at midcourt.
▪ Davidson rebounded from a 1-for-12 performance behind the 3-point arc in the first half to hit 6-of-12 3s after halftime.
They said it
“We’ve played some good programs so far and been close to winning some tough games. We’re about to find out if we can take this game and build on it for the rest of the season.” – McKillop
Worth mentioning
▪ Virginia Commonwealth assistant coach Wes Long spent eight seasons at Queens University of Charlotte, the last five as head coach (2008-2013).
▪ Davidson’s next game is at 7 p.m. Thursday against A-10 opponent LaSalle in Philadelphia. The next home game is at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24 against Duquesne.
This story was originally published January 14, 2017 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Davidson surges to top VCU, mend ‘broken spirit’."