Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Recaps

Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Tyler Kalinoski’s left-handed floater at the buzzer lifted No. 24 Davidson to a thrilling 67-66 win over La Salle in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Friday.

Kalinoski drove left past D.J. Peterson for the winner, getting the shot off over 6-foot-8 Jerrell Wright and finding a little luck with a kiss off the back of the rim.

“I just told myself attack the rim, because if I attack I can catch an open shooter,” Kalinoski said. “Then I made a move, saw the lane open, saw the shot-blocker coming over and I knew I just had to get it high enough to get over him and give it a chance to go in, and luckily for us it did.”

It came after Jack Gibbs knocked down a left-wing 3-pointer but missed a foul shot to draw the Wildcats within 66-65 with 1:18 remaining. La Salle had two chances to extend its lead at the other end, but Khalid Lewis and Jordan Price both missed 3-point attempts.

Kalinoski’s winner pulled top-seeded Davidson (24-6) all the way out of an early 18-point hole and into a semifinal meeting with fifth-seeded VCU on Saturday.

“Both teams deserved to win,” La Salle coach John Giannini said. “I was surprised that shot went in. I thought that we had them out of rhythm a little bit and it looked like the ball was thrown towards the rim and not shot as well as they normally do, and it just kind of took a couple bounces and went in.”

Gibbs scored 22 points and Kalinoski had 18 for the Wildcats, who pushed their winning streak to 10 games.

Steve Zack had 24 points and 15 rebounds to lead ninth-seeded La Salle (17-16), which was coming off a win over Massachusetts in Thursday’s second round.

The Explorers led by as much as 18 after Zack’s 3-pointer made it 33-15 with under seven minutes remaining in the first half.

Zack had 18 points in the half, Wright scored 13 of his 19 points before the break and the Explorers were 19-for-30 from the field in building a 46-37 lead going into the locker room.

Game Notes

Davidson is hoping to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 … Peterson had 11 points for La Salle.

Final Score: VCU 70, Richmond 67

Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Mo Alie-Cox’s 3-point play with 1:07 remaining snapped a tie game and helped send VCU into the Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinals with a 70-67 win over Richmond.

The fifth-seeded Rams closed out the contest on a 15-7 run to earn a matchup with No. 1 seed Davidson in Saturday’s semis, while avenging a pair of regular-season defeats to their crosstown rivals as well.

VCU (24-9) trailed 60-55 with just over three minutes to go before embarking on a 7-0 flurry, capped by Doug Brooks’ corner 3-pointer with 1:37 left, to move ahead. The Spiders pulled back even when ShawnDre’ Jones fed T.J. Cline in the high post for a layup on the following possession, but Alie-Cox sank a short runner while drawing contact on the Rams’ next trip and made the subsequent bonus shot for a 65-62 edge.

Richmond’s Kendall Anthony was then fouled but missed the front end of a 1- and-1, then slipped while driving into the lane and lost the ball out of bounds with 18.7 seconds left and the Spiders still down by three.

The turnover preceded four successful free throws by Melvin Johnson that all but sealed the Rams’ victory.

Johnson finished with 23 points and went 5-of-9 from 3-point range. Brooks ended 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, while the Rams were 10-of-21 as a team.

Fourth-seeded Richmond (19-13), which entered Friday’s quarterfinals riding a six-game win streak that had vaulted it into contention for an NCAA berth, shot 57.4 percent from the field and led for the majority of the second half after VCU owned a slim 37-36 advantage at the break.

Anthony tallied 26 points on 12-of-16 shooting and added six assists in defeat. Cline and Terry Allen scored 14 and 12 points, respectively, for the Spiders.

Final Score: Dayton 75, St. Bonaventure 71

Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – Kendall Pollard scored a career-high 26 points as the Dayton Flyers slipped by St. Bonaventure, 75-71, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament at the Barclays Center.

Also scoring in double figures for the second-seeded Dayton (24-7) were Jordan Sibert with 19 points and Scoochie Smith with 11, to go along with six assists.

Dayton will now take on the third-seeded Rhode Island Rams in the semifinals on Saturday, for the right to compete in the championship game on Sunday afternoon.

The seventh-seeded Bonnies (18-13) were paced by Marcus Posley and Dion Wright with 26 and 24 points, respectively, the latter hitting all but one of his 11 field goal tries and pulling down nine rebounds in the losing cause.

St. Bonaventure did not back down from the Flyers, shooting a sizzling 66.7 percent from the floor in the first half, in order to take a slim 36-34 edge at the break.

A 3-pointer by Sibert from the top of the key with 1:06 left on the clock put the Flyers on top by two, 69-67. The teams then traded layups, leaving Dayton on top by two with 39.2 seconds remaining.

Sibert then made one of two at the free-throw line, just before another layup by the Bonnies cut the score to a single point, 72-71. Another free throw and subsequent breakaway layup with time winding down was just enough to give the Flyers the four-point win.

St. Bonaventure finished the meeting with an impressive 58.1 percent accuracy from the floor, including 8-of-15 beyond the arc, but could not weather 16 turnovers.

Final Score: Rhode Island 71, George Washington 58

Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) – E.C. Matthews tallied 21 points to lead the third-seeded Rhode Island Rams to a 71-58 decision over the sixth-seeded George Washington Colonials in the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament at the Barclays Center.

Jarvis Garrett contributed 12 points, six assists and six rebounds for the Rams (22-8), who will square off with the Dayton Flyers in the semifinals. T.J. Buchanan added 12 points off the bench for URI.

Patricio Garino registered a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds for George Washington. John Kopriva scored 11 points for the Colonials, who went just 1-of-16 from 3-point range in the contest.

Despite missing all five of its shots from beyond the arc in the first stanza, GW took a 32-30 lead into the break. The Rams were limited to 41.7 percent efficiency from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of action.

URI dominated the second period as it held the Colonials to 21.2 percent shooting from the field and held a 21-11 advantage in free-throw line scoring. The Rams’ bench outscored GW’s reserves, 13-2, after halftime.

Despite the setback, GW finished with a 42-39 edge in total rebounds.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball