Playing in its third game in six days, the Virginia Commonwealth University squeezed out a 63-52 road win at Hampton University on Monday night.

“I was pleased to see the way our guys were able to grit out this win and really show some mental toughness,” VCU head coach Shaka Smart said. “Playing on the road is never easy and we did a great job of hanging tough and winning the battle of the boards.”

Behind sophomore guard/forward Bradford Burgess’ first career double-double, the Rams improved to 3-1 on the year, while the Pirates fell to 0-3.  Burgess posted career-highs with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Senior forward T.J. Gwynn corralled a career-best 11 rebounds; he scored nine points, too, all in the first half.

“Coming into this game we were focused on not letting down after the big win on Saturday,” Burgess said. “So many times it’s easy to slip up, especially on the road, but we concentrated on winning the battle of the boards (41-38) and hitting the shots when we needed to.”

The Rams led by nine points at half-time. Hampton would come out of the intermission with three fast-break layups, to get within four points (29-25), just a minute into the second half. Five points from Burgess and four points from junior center Larry Sanders capped off a 12-2 VCU run as the Rams quickly extended their lead to 14 points, at 41-27, with 13:21 remaining in regulation.

Michael Freeman would take over for the Pirates, scoring seven points in just over two minutes to get Hampton with five at 48-43.

Then, as he’s been known to do, Burgess drilled another huge bucket at a crucial time — a three-pointer from the corner to push the lead up to eight points.

Hampton would get no closer the rest of the way, with the Rams going six-for-six from the charity stripe over the final 1:24, to preserve the first road victory of the 2009-10 campaign.

Sanders added 11 points, four rebounds and four blocks, while junior point guard Joey Rodriguez chipped in 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Freeman had 13 points to lead the Pirates, while Vincent Simpson added 10 points in a losing effort.

The Rams return to action on Friday, as they host the high-scoring Wolfpack of Nevada in a 7:30 p.m. contest at the Siegel Center.

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– The information above was provided by Scott Day at VCU