Virginia Union University's Tyriek Railey scored a career-high 24 points as VUU downed Johnson C. Smith University 84-54 in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday, December 18, at Barco-Stevens Hall in Richmond, Va.
 
The win was the sixth straight for the Panthers, the longest win streak since the 2016-17 team won nine straight games.
 
"We knew coming in that today's game was going to take a total team effort, because the team was coming off finals and heading home for the Christmas break," said VUU Head Men's Basketball Coach Jay Butler.  "We got off to a slow start and it took the bench to get us going.  Rasheed Gatling and Tyriek Railey really gave us a spark in the first half. Rasheed did a good job of running the team and Tyriek shot the ball extremely well.  Defensively we have been great the last three games, holding our opponents to less than 60 points.  Jordan Pointer is starting to be a presence in the paint. He led us tonight with 5 blocks."
 
Virginia Union's Dedric Byrd led the Panthers on the boards with seven rebounds while also scoring 13 points.
 
VUU's Terrell Leach scored 17 points while teammate Darian Peterson added 10 points for the Panthers.
 
The win raised VUU's record to 8-4 on the season while Johnson C. Smith fell to 7-3.
 
Virginia Union has the rest of 2019 off and will return to action when the Panthers host Shaw University at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 4, at Barco-Stevens Hall in Richmond, Va.