It was a night of thrills across the A-10 as some teams struggled more than others against exhibition opponents. Dayton and VCU both struggled to stay with their opponents, and the Flyers came out on top while the Rams fell. Meanwhile, the Saint Louis Billikens and Davidson Wildcats cruised past their opponents.
The Flyers were shocked to see the Findlay Oilers come out of the gates with some serious aggression, running out to a 41-34 halftime lead, holding the advantage the entire way through. The Flyers slowly began chipping their way back in the 2nd half thanks to some clutch plays by Bradley transfer Josh Cunningham. Sam Miller hit a go-ahead three with just under 7 minutes to play, and the Flyers wouldn’t look back. Though they struggled early on, they’d end up topping the Oilers 76-69. Charles Cooke led the Flyers with 19 while Josh Cunningham also added a solid 18 points of his own.
VCU also struggled with its opponent, Queens, as it fought its way to a 33-33 tie at the half. Though JeQuan Lewis would lead the team with 24 points, the Rams’ starting point guards would end up combining for 13 turnovers, and Queens capitalized on VCU’s carelessness with the basketball. The game was fairly back and forth in the second half, and a double-digit scoring run gave the Rams the lead late in the game, but Queens fought until the end and got a game winning lay-up with less than 2 second remaining on the clock. VCU suffered a 75-73 loss in its exhibition game. Luckily for the Rams, this game will obviously not count towards their record.
Davidson and Saint Louis had an easier time with their exhibition opponents. The Wildcats hit 21, yes, 21, three pointers in their 104-58 win over Belmont Abbey. Oskar Michelsen led all scores with 20 points and hit 6-9 from long range. Mind you, Davidson performed at a high-level without star point guard Jack Gibbs. Freshman Jon Axel Gudmundsson had a nice showing with 13 points, 4 assists, and 7 boards. Saint Louis rolled past Greenville College with an enormous offensive showing Friday night. The Billikens scorched the nets en route to a 124-85 win.
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