Dayton secured a big win over a Saint Louis team struggling as of late. La Salle and Fordham, two teams not many prognosticators expected much from, are arguably the hottest ones in the A10. Less than one month until Brooklyn.
Friday
Dayton 70 Saint Louis 56
Possessions: 60
Offensive efficiency: Dayton 117, Saint Louis 93
Dayton made it two straight, knocking off Saint Louis at UD Arena. The Billikens have now dropped three of their last four. Saint Louis shot 38% a season low, in A10 games. Travis Ford’s group also posted their season low scoring total for conference matchups. Dayton led by seven at the half and extended that margin to as much as 19 the final stanza. Four Flyers hit double figures with Toumani Camara leading the way with 17 points. Javonte Perkins tied Camara for game-high scoring honors with 17 for the Billikens.
Saturday:
Saint Joseph’s 81 George Washington 69
Possessions: 78
Offensive efficiency: Saint Joseph’s 104, GW 88
Second straight win and four of the last five for the Hawks. The Colonials fell behind 16-1 to start the game at Hagan Arena and never really got established. Saint Joseph;s led by 20 at intermission before George Washingtom made a run cutting the deficit to eight with just under 15 minutes remaining. The Hawks regrouped and sent the Colonial to their fourth loss in their last five games. The game high scorer was Erik Reynolds II of Saint Joseph’s with 24 points. Brendan Adams led George Washington with 15.
Duquesne 56 St. Bonaventure 54
Possessions: 68
Offensive efficiency: Duquesne 82, St. Bona 79
Duquesne earned their first home win over the Bonnies since 2016. Bonnies had more turnovers (12) than field goals (8) over the course of the final twenty minutes. Bonnies had led by four at intermission but were scoreless for over four minutes into the second half. Bona’s 25 turnovers came to an outrageously high 37% TO rate. Those numbers translated into a 35-10 Duquesne edge in points off turnovers. Both teams were decidedly below their season average in offensive efficiency. Daryl Banks III of Bona led all scorers with 15 points. Dae Dae Grant and Jimmy Clark III scored 12 apiece for the Dukes.
George Mason 75 Rhode Island 67
Possessions: 71
Offensive efficiency: GMU 106, URI 94
The host Patriots led by as much as 13 in the second half. Rhode Island got the deficit to two possessions in the stretch. They could get no closer as George Mason closed out the victory, to snap a two game slide. Patriots were forced into a 24% turnover rate but did hit 8 of 20 (40%) from downtown. George Mason held a 34-22 edge in points in the paint largely due to Josh Oduro’s game-high 27 points. Rams were led by Jalen Carey with 21.
Fordham 73 Davidson 71
Possessions: 63
Offensive efficiency: Fordham 116, Davidson 113
Rams made it two straight and seven of their last eight with a big road win at Davidson. It was Davidson’s first loss to Fordham in 13 meetings. The Wildcats trailed by as much as 12 before pulling within one point late. Fordham regrouped to hold on. Rams enjoyed a 15-1 advantage in second chance points by virtue of a 33% OREB percentage (13-3 in raw offensive rebounding totals). Fordham also committed only 6 turnovers for an outstanding 10% turnover rate. Darius Quisenberry paced Fordham with 21 points. Foster Loyer of Davidson, which shot 28 of 35 (80%) from the line, led all scorers with 26.
La Salle 86 UMass 72
Possessions: 69
Offensive efficiency: La Salle 125, UMass 104
Explorers made it four straight. A 10-2 run with just under ten minutes left was the key spurt for La Salle. The run was fueled by two three pointers courtesy of Josh Nickelberry. Once again La Salle was white hot from beyond the arc shooting 11 of 24 (46%). For the game the Explorers checked in with a 53% field goal percentage. Nickelberry canned a career-high seven treys en route to a game-high 21 points. Explorers had five players in double figures with four of them coming off the bench. UMass has dropped four straight and was led by TJ Weeks with 16 points.
Richmond 74 Loyola 71
Possessions: 69
Offensive efficiency: Richmond 107, Loyola 103
Chris Mooney’s club had to battle injuries to get past Loyola at the Robins Center. Isaiah Bigelow was already unavailable then center Neal Quinn sprained his ankle late in the first half and never returned. Spiders led by eight at intermission and had to hold off surging Loyola in the final stanza. Richmond was forced into an uncharacteristically high 23% turnover rate. The Ramblers took advantage to the tune of a 20-12 edge in points off turnovers. Loyola had five players in double figures with Ben Schwieger leading the way with 17. Tyler Burton of Richmond led all scores with 23 while Andre Gustavson came off the Richmond bench to give a lift with a career-high 15.
