RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Max Shulga's 19 points helped VCU defeat Bellarmine 84-65 on Monday night in a season opener.

Shulga had five rebounds and five assists for the Rams. Joe Bamisile went 8 of 14 from the field (2 for 7 from 3-point range) to add 18 points. Phillip Russell had 16 points and shot 5 for 10, including 5 for 9 from beyond the arc.

Dezmond McKinney and Ben Johnson each scored 15 points for Bellarmine. Jack Karasinski also had 11 points.

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