Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Recaps

Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Patrico Garino and Isaiah Armwood each scored 15 points, as the George Washington Colonials bested the Massachusetts Minutemen, 85-77, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament at the Barclays Center.

Nemanja Mikic poured in 14 points off the bench for third-seeded GW (24-7), which will play VCU in Saturday’s semifinal round. Kevin Larsen, Maurice Creek and Joe McDonald all netted 12 points to add to the balanced effort, with McDonald handing out seven assists and Larsen pulling down eight rebounds.

For sixth-seeded UMass (24-8), Maxie Esho paced all scorers with 22 points, while Chaz Williams registered 19 points and seven assists.

GW shot 50 percent from the field in the first half, compared to just 39.4 percent for UMass, as the Colonials took a 40-31 lead into intermission.

The Minutemen battled back from 16 points down with 3:06 left to make it just an eight-point contest at the 1:25 mark, but their late surge was for naught as GW held on for the victory.

Neither team took great care of the basketball, with GW committing 19 turnovers and UMass coughing the ball up 17 times.

Final Score: (23) VCU 71, Richmond 53

Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Briante Weber shot 8-of-10 from the field on his way to 18 points, as the No. 23 VCU Rams downed the Richmond Spiders, 71-53, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament at Barclays Center.

Treveon Graham poured in 14 points for second-seeded VCU (25-7), which will take on George Washington in the semifinals on Saturday. Melvin Johnson added 13 points, while Mo Alie-Cox hauled in 10 rebounds.

Weber, well known for his defensive prowess with a nation-leading 3.6 spg, came in scoring just 9.1 ppg.

“I just came out with a mindset to attack,” Weber said. “We definitely came here with the mindset to win this thing.”

For seventh-seeded Richmond (19-14), ShawnDre’ Jones had 18 points, Terry Allen netted 16 and Alonzo Nelson-Ododa grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked four shots.

VCU shot just 38.9 percent from the field in the first half, but it held Richmond to only 33.3 percent shooting and attempted 15 more field goals than the Spiders, as it went into intermission with a comfortable 38-22 lead.

The Rams’ advantage was never in question in the second stanza, as their lead swelled as high as 24 down the stretch.

“We haven’t been confused with the Showtime Lakers in terms of the points we put on the board,” VCU coach Shaka Smart said. “We take points any time we can get them.”

Game Notes

VCU played in the championship game last season versus Saint Louis, losing by a score of 62-56 … The Rams defeated Richmond by just six points (56-50) eight days ago … VCU won the rebounding battle, 50-28, and outscored Richmond in the paint, 28-18.

Final Score: St. Bonaventure 71, (18) Saint Louis 68

Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Jordan Gathers knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift St. Bonaventure to a 71-68 upset of No. 18 St. Louis on Friday, knocking the top-seeded Billikens out of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Gathers’ shot was the third 3-pointer made in the last 39 seconds of the game and set up a meeting with Saint Joseph’s in Saturday’s semifinals. The Hawks beat Dayton later Friday.

Dwayne Evans had just tied the score for St. Louis on a 3-pointer at the other end but couldn’t get out quick enough on Gathers, who broke free up top to get into position for Charlon Kloof’s pass.

Gathers said it was the first game-winning shot of his career.

“When I let it go, I knew it was going in,” he said.

Matthew Wright scored 22 points for St. Bonaventure (18-14) and made three key 3-pointers in the second half, including one from the right corner for a 68-65 lead with 38.2 seconds left.

Earlier, he made back-to-back threes — the first to give St. Bonaventure its first lead, and the second to make it a 57-52 game with nine minutes left, capping a 10-0 run.

Kloof also scored 22 for the ninth-seeded Bonnies, who opened the tournament with an 82-72 win over La Salle on Thursday to stop a four-game losing streak. Youssou Ndoye added 13 points in the win.

Mike McCall Jr. led Saint Louis (26-6) with 21 points, Evans scored 15 and Jordair Jett had nine.

Billikens coach Jim Crews said his team had trouble with St. Bonaventure’s 1-3-1 zone in the second half.

“Their zone bothered us in terms of being in rhythm,” he said. “We just didn’t get guys in the right spots in a consistent way. I really don’t know why, but we were having problems with that. So here we are.”

St. Louis was trying to win the A-10 regular-season and tournament titles for the second season in a row.

The Billikens clinched the regular-season title on Sunday when Jett’s layup with 3.4 seconds left beat Massachusetts to snap a three-game losing streak.

Jett’s turnover in the lane led to Wright’s late 3-pointer for the lead. Jett looked like he was fouled on the play — Kloof hit him across the arm — and he lost the ball after running into Ndoye.

The Billikens used an 8-0 run to take an early 18-6 advantage and led by as many as 13 in the first half. They had a 38-28 lead at halftime.

The Bonnies were 6-for-9 on 3-pointers in the second half, with Wright going 5-of-7.

Game Notes

Saint Louis beat VCU in last year’s final to win its first conference tournament title in 13 years.

Final Score: Saint Joseph’s 70, Dayton 67

Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Langston Galloway scored 31, including the go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute that helped lift Saint Joseph’s to a 70-67 win over Dayton in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Friday.

Galloway’s shot will stir controversy. He used his right arm to push off Dayton guard Kyle Davis before knocking the shot down from the top of the arc with under 20 seconds to play.

Devin Oliver then missed a straight-away 3-pointer for Dayton at the other end and DeAndre Bembry made 1-of-2 free throws for Saint Joe’s with one second on the clock.

Dayton inbounded the ball to midcourt after a timeout but couldn’t get off a try with less than one second left.

Saint Joe’s will face St. Bonaventure in the semifinals on Saturday after the Bonnies upset No. 18 St. Louis, the tournament’s top seed, on Jordan Gathers’ 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The fourth-seeded Hawks (22-9) lost their last two games of the regular season to George Washington and La Salle on the heels of an 8-1 stretch that put them in the conversation for an NCAA tournament bid and earned them votes in the AP poll.

They bolstered their chances with Friday’s win over the fifth-seeded Flyers, who came into the tournament as the A-10’s hottest team.

Dayton (23-10) opened the tournament with a 70-67 win over Fordham on Thursday and had fallen just once in its last 11 games, a 26-point loss at Saint Joe’s on Feb. 25.

This one was close throughout, with neither team leading by more than six points. Saint Joe’s took a 66-60 lead on a couple of Galloway free throws, which came after teammate Ronald Roberts shook the rim with a putback dunk off a missed 3-pointer.

Jordan Sibert, who scored 10, hit a 3-pointer from the right side after that to get Dayton within three. Matt Kavanaugh then made a layup and knocked down a baseline jumper to give the Flyers a 67-66 lead before Galloway’s shot.

Kavanaugh had 10 points and Dyshawn Pierre scored 11 to lead Dayton. Halil Kanacevic had nine points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks and Bembry scored 15.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball