Lamonte Turner's 3-pointer with one second left gave No. 17 Tennessee a thrilling 72-69 victory over No. 20 VCU on Saturday in the third-place game of the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla.
VCU's De'Riante Jenkins nailed a 3-pointer with five seconds remaining to tie the score at 69. Following a timeout, Josiah-Jordan James inbounded to Turner, who fired the winning shot from the right corner.
John Fulkerson scored 17 points and Jordan Bowden added 14 for the Volunteers (6-1) of the Southeastern Conference.
Marcus Santos-Silva had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Atlantic 10's Rams (6-2), who shot 53.6 percent (15 of 28) in the second half to rally from a 13-point deficit. Jenkins scored 15 points.
Down 56-53, VCU scored five straight points to take its first lead since the 11:36 mark of the first half. KeShawn Curry's free throw, Santos-Silva's layup and a Curry jumper built a two-point lead with 6:42 left.
After a timeout, James answered with a 3-pointer to give the Vols a 59-58 edge with 6:26 left and set up a battle to the finish.
Trailing by 10 points, the Rams reeled off six straight points to reduce their deficit to 44-40 at 15:23. Santos-Silva made two free throws and a dunk before Jenkins hit layup to complete the spurt.
Fulkerson's eight points, on 4-of-5 shooting, helped Tennessee build a 37-26 halftime lead. VCU went without a field goal for 8:40 during one stretch.
The Vols outrebounded the Rams 26-13 and outscored VCU in the paint 18-6 during the first 20 minutes
The largest lead for either team through the first 13 minutes was three points (twice) by Tennessee. The Vols then closed the half with a 14-6 run in which six UT players scored.
The Rams shot 24.1 percent (7 of 29) in the first half. The Vols shot 50 percent (15 of 30) but sank just 1 of 6 from behind the arc.
--Field Level Media
Tennessee | VCU | |
John Fulkerson 17 | Scoring | Marcus Santos-Silva 22 |
Lamonte Turner 7 | Assists | Mike'l Simms 4 |
John Fulkerson 7 | Rebounds | Marcus Santos-Silva 11 |
Jordan Bowden 6 | Free Throws Made | Marcus Santos-Silva 6 |
Lamonte Turner 3 | Steals | Marcus Santos-Silva 2 |
John Fulkerson 1 | Blocks | Nah'Shon Hyland 1 |