Virginia Commonwealth University’s eight-game homestand – among the longest in school history – ends Saturday with a 4 p.m. tipoff against Atlantic 10 rival George Washington University.

First-year Coach Ryan Odom’s Rams, after a skittish start, seem up for any challenge now with late arriving transfers Joe Bamisile and Sean Bairstow in the mix.

Bairstow had 22 points and Bamisile 21 in the Rams’ 87-73 victory over Gardner-Webb, N.C., Dec. 30 before a Siegel Center crowd of 7,188. It was a rare game in Rams’ lore in which there were multiple 20-plus scorers.

The upcoming George Washington game will send Bamisile against one of his three former college teams.

He averaged 16 points for the D.C. school in the 2020-21 season.

Gardner-Webb became VCU’s fourth straight win, all at home. The Rams (8-5 entering this week) were to play A10 rival St. Bonaventure Wednesday at home to open conference play before an anticipated sellout crowd.

Max Shulga, who transferred to VCU along with Bairstow from Utah State, added 17 points versus George Washington and high-hopping Tobi Lawal, a 6-foot-9 sophomore from England, had 17 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

The crowd-pleasing Lawal averages nine points and seven rebounds while ranking among the nation’s leaders with 73% shooting (49-for-67) from the floor and 32 for 32 on dunks this season.

Much improved, Lawal averaged just one point and one rebound as a freshman, getting about six minutes per outing.

The Rams’ first true road game is Jan. 9 at George Mason. That will be the teams 16th game of the season.

Hitting the road isn’t usually a major problem for the Rams, who are 85-47 on opposing campuses since the 2011-12 season.

VCU went 22-9 in road games during Mike Rhoades’ final three coaching seasons.