VCU falls to Duquesne, hindering double-bye bid

In a game where both teams struggled to get going offensively, the VCU Rams never fully got into rhythm, falling to the Duquesne Dukes 69-59 in their home finale at the Stuart C. Siegel Center on Tuesday night.

The loss, the second in a row for VCU, dropped the Rams to 11-6 in Atlantic 10 play, 19-11 overall, and makes the path to a double-bye in next week’s Atlantic 10 Tournament much more difficult for first year head coach Ryan Odom’s Rams.

In all, VCU led for just 4:35 of the contest, keeping the game close for much of the night before things came unraveled in the game’s closing stanzas.

Duquesne (19-11, 9-8 A-10), pulled off the road upset at the Siegel Center for the first time since 2020. Head coach Keith Dambrot’s Dukes have now won three of their last four against VCU, and have placed themselves solidly in the middle of the A-10 pack as the last weekend of the regular season approaches.

Injury report

A pair of injuries at the guard position left the Rams thin on Tuesday night.

In pregame, senior guard Max Shulga was ruled out due to back spasms, missing his first game of the season on senior night. The Ukrainian guard, who passed 1,000 career collegiate points on Feb. 28 against Rhode Island, is VCU’s leading scorer with 15 points per game.

With Shulga out, redshirt freshman Fats Billups got significant run as a reserve point guard spelling Jason Nelson, who was elevated to the starting lineup in Shulga’s absence.

However, with less than a minute to go in the first half, Billups went down under the left basket with an apparent right ankle injury after completing a superb transition layup. The Richmond native was helped off the floor by teammate Roosevelt Wheeler and assistant coach Bradford Burgess and taken into the locker room. Billups did not return to the game and did not appear to put weight on the ankle as he was being carried off.

When he left the game, Billups had five points on 2-of-3 shooting in nine minutes of action.

As of 11 p.m. on March 5, there is no update on the severity of Billups’ injury.

Bamisile back

VCU’s leading scorer in the loss was senior guard Joe Bamisile, who put up a team high 18 points on 4-of-9 from beyond the 3-point arc.

But the biggest news the transfer guard made on Tuesday night came after the game.

Bamisile confirmed following the game that he will be using his optional “COVID year” of eligibility to return to VCU for his fifth year of college basketball.

The decision marks a period of stability not seen by Bamisile during his collegiate career. The Chesterfield native has transferred following every year of his collegiate career, which began at Virginia Tech before stops at George Washington and Oklahoma led to VCU.

As a multi-time transfer, Bamisile was originally expected to sit out for the duration of the 2023-24 season before a federal judge issued an injunction against the NCAA that permitted multi-time transfers to play without being forced to sit out.

Bamisile missed most of the non-conference schedule due to eligibility concerns after having his waiver for immediate eligibility denied by the NCAA. In requesting immediate eligibility, Bamisile noted the health of his father and his own mental health challenges meant he desired to live closer to home and his family.

Since making his season debut on Dec. 16 against Temple, Bamisile has quickly endeared himself to VCU fans with his fun play style, his athletic bounciness and his explosive scoring ability. He has cracked the 20-point barrier five times, led by a 29-point outing against Saint Louis on Jan. 19, and became the first VCU player with back-to-back 20-point games since JeQuan Lewis in 2017.

Safe to say, VCU fans are looking forward to a full season with Bamisile on the roster.

Happy senior day!

Prior to the game, five VCU players were recognized as part of the senior day festivities.

Grad transfers Kuany Kuany and Sean Bairstow and seniors Max Shulga, Zeb Jackson and Connor Odom were recognized before the home finale Tuesday night.