RICHMOND, Va. -- Justin Tillman scored 18 points, Samir Doughty had 16 and VCU edged city rival Richmond 81-74 on Wednesday night.

A dunk by De'Monte Buckingham capped a 7-0 run -- immediately after a 9-0 run by the Rams -- to pull Richmond into a tie at 54 with 7:05 to play. It was the 10th tie to go with 10 leads changes.

Mo Alie-Cox had a dunk and JeQuan Lewis hit a 3-pointer after an Alie-Cox steal to put the Rams ahead for good. Tillman followed with two free throws before ShawnDre' Jones, who led Richmond with 30 points, knocked down a 3. Tillman and Jones traded baskets, making it 67-61 with 3:18 to play. From there VCU made 12 of 15 free throws with a 3-point play by Alie-Cox producing the only field goal.

Alie-Cox and Lewis added 13 apiece for the Rams (17-5, 7-2 Atlantic 10), who moved into a tie for first with Dayton.

T.J. Cline had 15 points and Buckingham 13 for the Spiders (13-9, 7-3), who dropped out of a tie for the conference lead.