NEW YORK -- — Joe Bamisile helped lead VCU past UMass on Thursday with 18 points off of the bench in a 73-59 win in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament.

VCU (21-12) advances to play No. 9 seed Saint Joseph's on Friday in the semifinals.

Bamisile shot 6 for 9, including 4 for 6 from beyond the arc for the Rams. Zeb Jackson scored 17 points while shooting 3 for 9 (1 for 4 from 3-point range) and 10 of 11 from the free-throw line and added five assists and four steals. Sean Bairstow shot 2 for 5 (1 for 3 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line to finish with nine points.

Rahsool Diggins finished with 21 points for the Minutemen (20-11). Josh Cohen added 14 points, six rebounds and two steals for UMass. Jayden Ndjigue finished with eight points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

VCU took the lead with 10:19 left in the first half and did not give it up. The score was 42-25 at halftime, with Jackson racking up 11 points. Bamisile scored a team-high nine points after the break.

------

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.