Score: VCU 56, St. John's 51
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico (Coliseo Guillermo Angulo)
Records: VCU 4-1, St. John's 3-2
 
The short story: VCU had three players score in double figures and used clutch free throw shooting late to hold off St. John's in its Discover Puerto Rico Classic opener.
 
OPENING TIP

• Sarah Te-Biasu had a team-high 19 points on 5-11 shooting with just one turnover
• Timaya Lewis-Eutsey scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds. She shot an efficient 7-of-10 from the floor
• Mykel Parham tied a career high of 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Parham was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line, all coming in the fourth quarter
• Zoli Khalil had career-highs of nine points and four rebounds
• VCU outrebounded the Red Storm 38-24 overall and limited St. John's to go 0-of-11 from 3-point range for the game
• St. John's was led by Ber'Nyah Mayo, a UMass transfer, who had a game-high 20 points

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• VCU raced out to a 10-0 lead with 5:52 left in the first quarter after a Te-Baisu 3-pointer forced St. John's to call a timeout
• The Red Storm answered with a 11-3 run to cut the VCU lead to 13-11 but another Te-Biasu 3-pointer gave the Rams a 16-11 lead at the end of the first
• The Rams struggled to shoot efficiently in the second quarter, making just 33.3 percent of their shots from the floor while the Red Storm shot 50 percent. The Rams' rebounding edge though allowed them to still hold a 27-25 lead at halftime
• The third quarter was back-and-forth as VCU held a 33-31 lead with 2:17 left before a layup from Zoli Khalil and a Te-Biasu 3-pointer pushed the lead to 38-31
• St. John's started the fourth quarter on a 10-2 run, taking a 41-40 lead with 5:29 left. Lewis-Eutsey answered with a jumper with 4:52 remaining and the Rams never trailed again
• The Red Storm tied the game at 44-44 with 3:01 left but VCU went 12-of-12 at the free throw line down the stretch to put the game away

 
NEXT UP
VCU faces Sacred Heart at 5:30 p.m. EST in the second game of the Discover Puerto Rico Classic. The game will be streamed on FloHoops.