Veteran players are usually the ones teams look to when things aren’t going according to plan. On Saturday night, in front of a sold out Siegel Center, senior T.J. Gwynn took that role head on and his 20-point, seven-rebound performance spurred the VCU basketball team to a critical 65-57 victory over cross-town rival Richmond.

For his efforts, Gwynn was named Colonial Athletic Association Co-Player of the Week. Sammie Givens (Drexel) shared the honor with Gwynn.

“T.J. was huge in allowing us to stay within striking distance when as a team we weren’t clicking,” Smart said.  “I think T.J. came into the game very, very motivated and when he’s hot and flying around and playing with that energy, it’s not always the prettiest thing but it always gets stuff done.”

With his team down 12 points with less than two minutes to play in the first half, Gwynn tallied five straight points to give the Rams momentum heading into halftime. After halftime, the Rams went on a 19-4 run and ultimately went on to pick up the win against a Richmond team that had won five straight coming into the game.

Gwynn and his teammates return to the hardwood on Saturday afternoon when they travel to New Orleans for a 2 p.m. (EST) showdown with Tulane.

– The information above was provided by Scott Day with VCU