It was a wild week in Atlantic 10 action with Marcus Posley delivering the week’s biggest highlights.
The junior guard out of St. Bonaventure delivered two buzzer-beating daggers to two of the league’s top teams, first going the length of the court to stun Davidson on the road, then upsetting the league’s No.1 team, VCU, with a circus shot that went unblocked despite close D from VCU’s Mo Alie-Cox and Jordan Burgess.
The loss was VCU’s second in their last three games, but one suffered without the play of seniors Briante Weber and Treveon Graham, but sidelined with injuries.
Those losses allowed Rhode Island to tie the southern Rams at 8-2 in conference play. VCU however holds a head-to-head tie-breaker due to a comeback road win on Jan 13.
Dayton, GW and UMass sit right behind those two at 7-3 in league play in what will surely be an exciting finish to the A-10 regular season.
Here’s how our A-10 bloggers rank the teams after this week’s action.
1. VCU (5*) (high 1, low 2) – “The margin between VCU and the rest of the pack has been trimmed with the loss of Briante Weber. Conference tourney is truly up for grabs now.” – Sam Taylor
2. Rhode Island (2*) (high 1, low 5) – “Impossible to ignore this crew. The numbers suggest that they aren’t just the best defense in the A10, but that they’re one of the best in the country. Their offensive efficiency numbers give cause for concern, but I see a group of studs that are going to get buckets one way or another. Hassan Martin should be everyone’s favorite player in the A10 – I’m the president of the fan club and am accepting applications.” – Jeff Horne
3. Dayton (high 2, low 4) – “I was at the Flyers game Friday night at GW and came away very impressed with how hard they played in spite of some weak calls in a hostile environment. Pollard, Pierre and Sibert are as good of a triumvirate as you will find just about anywhere.” – Brian Keiper
4. George Washington (high 2, low 6) – “Colonials got right back into the race with a win over Dayton, despite two recent road losses.” – Alan Kelly
5. Davidson (high 3, low 7) – “I want Jack Gibbs back. The Wildcats are so good at executing what they do that they’ll continue to stay afloat in his absence, but the ceiling for this team is exponentially higher with Gibbs in the mix.” – Jeff Horne
6. UMass (high 5, low 8) – “Minutemen are quietly on a roll and lurking in the weeds to steal a top-4 seed” – Alan Kelly
7. St. Bonaventure (high 3, low 9) – “Do two buzzer beater wins suddenly make you a much better team? I don’t know. But wins are wins.” – Sam Taylor
8. Richmond (high 5, low 9) – “It’s so Richmond to follow up their biggest win of the season with back-to-back losses.” – Mat Shelton-Eide
9. La Salle (high 8, low 9) – “Still building towards next season, but they’ve gotten themselves into better position for the NIT this year.” – Steve DiMiceli
10. Saint Joseph’s (high 10, low 10) – “This team is hard to watch when anyone but Deandre Bembry is touching or shooting the ball. He’s averaging 19.5 in conference play and would likely be an All-American candidate if he had better pieces around him.” – Chase Harrison
11. George Mason (high 11, low 13) – “Hard-fought home loss to VCU looks like an anomaly when sandwiched by lifeless road losses to DU and SJU.” – Alan Kelly
12. Duquesne (high 11, low 13) – “Home good, away awful. They could easily be 5-0 in Pittsburgh now, but not a lot of questions about the 0-5 on the road.” Steve DiMiceli
13. Saint Louis (high 12, low 14) – “Losing to both Fordham and Mason is a ticket for the basement.” – Alan Kelly
14. Fordham (high 12, low 14) – “The Rams got a conference win! One more than I thought they’d get this year.” – Brian Keiper
