VCU 75, Belmont 65
Treveon Graham led a balanced attack with 19 points as Virginia Commonwealth held off a determined second-half Belmont rally on the way to a 75-65 non-conference victory Saturday at Richmond's Siegel Center.
The Rams (5-3) led by as many as 18 points early in the second half before Bruins run cut the deficit to five at 68-63 on J.J. Mann's jumper with 3:38 left in regulation.
But Rob Brandenberg's 3-pointer just 22 seconds later pushed the lead back to eight and Belmont (5-2) got no closer to secure its second consecutive victory.
Juvonte Reddic scored 17 points for VCU, Brandenberg had 14 and Melvin Johnson added 14. The Bruins' Ian Clark collected a game-high 24 points while Kerron Johnson added 11.
Saturday's meeting was the first between the two programs.
Belmont hosts Lipscomb on Tuesday while VCU is at Old Dominion on Friday.
