Terrence Hill Jr. scored a career-high 21 points off the bench to fuel VCU to an 86-68 victory over in-state foe Virginia Tech on Friday in the Battle 4 Atlantis 3rd-place game in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Hill made all five of his shots from beyond the arc for VCU (5-3), which operated efficiently after a tip-off at 10:30 a.m. ET.
The Rams made 52.6% of their shots overall and 52.4% from 3-point range.
Barry Evans contributed 17 points and five rebounds, while Jadrian Tracey added 13 points for the Rams in their first meeting with the Hokies since 2013.
Amani Hansberry and Tyler Johnson scored 16 points apiece for Virginia Tech (6-2), which whittled a 20-point deficit to six before fading.
The Hokies have answered a six-game winning streak with consecutive losses without Tobi Lawal, their third leading scorer (12.8 points per game) and top rebounder (10.3 ppg).
Lawal, who formerly played for VCU, was in a walking boot on Friday as a “precautionary” measure, according to Virginia Tech coach Mike Young.
After leading at the break 45-35, the Rams opened the second half on a 14-4 spree fueled by a pair of driving layups by Tracey and a 3-pointer by Lazar Djokovic.
When Hill added another triple less than 4 minutes into the period, it swelled VCU’s advantage to 59-39.
The Hokies answered with an eight-point run midway through the second half and later reduced the deficit to 68-62 with 7:56 as Izaiah Pasha made a steal and a breakaway layup.
But VCU resumed control with 3-pointers in the final 6 minutes from Hill, Evans and Tracey.
The first half featured a series of spurts. VCU had the first, outscoring Virginia Tech 13-3 in the opening minutes. When Tracey closed the run with a trey it put the Rams up 15-5.
The Hokies answered with a 12-0 sprint as Jaden Schutt accounted for half the points with a pair of triples.
When Hansberry closed the run with a slam, it gave Virginia Tech its lone lead of the game 27-25 with 7:20 left in the first half. But VCU responded immediately with a 9-point burst.
Schutt scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half before encountering foul trouble.
