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Thrilling first round kicks off 2024 A-10 tournament

David KornBy No Comments7 Mins Read

(Photo courtesy of Hunter Hensel)

BROOKLYN, NY – The first round of the Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Tournament, infamously (and affectionately) known as the “pillow fight,” featured three thrilling games between the bottom-six teams in the A-A-10, perfectly setting up what is expected to be an evenly-matched high-stakes week at the Barclays Center.

Game No. 1: No. 12 Fordham Rams vs. No. 13 Davidson Wildcats

The first game of the day was between No. 12 seed Fordham and No. 13 seed Davidson.

This game was a grind at the start. By the second media timeout, Davidson was winning by a score of just 7-5. The Wildcats had committed six turnovers at this point (ended the first half with 13, game with 20) and Fordham was shooting 2-15 from the field and 0-4 from three.

While the offenses picked up a little bit more to end the half, it was still a low scoring affair through 20 minutes, with Davidson leading Fordham 27-19 heading into the break, with freshman Bobby Durkin beating the halftime buzzer with a three to put an exclamation mark on Davidson’s start.

The second half was all Fordham. The Rams began to mount a furious comeback as regulation wound down, erasing a 13 point deficit with about three-and-a-half minutes left, tying the game on a basket by sophomore forward Joshua Rivera.

Then, in the final seconds of regulation, senior guard Kyle Rose, who was named to the All-Defensive team earlier in the day, got the ball, worked his way inside and fought through contact to tie the game at 61 and send the game to overtime.

Fordham dominated in overtime. The Rams outscored Davidson 10-2 in the extra period, led by five points from senior guard Antrell Charlton, win 71-63 and book a date with No. 5 VCU in the second round.

Sophomore guard Will Richardson took on a bulk of the scoring load off the bench for Fordham, scoring a team-high and season-high 20 points on 6-14 shooting from the field and 3-8 shooting from three.

“These guys know they’re capable of winning more games. Whoever we play, we’re going to give ourselves a chance if we continue to defend and rebound,” said Fordham head coach Keith Urgo. “When you get ini the tournament, it’s great to win one, But that’s not our goal… The mindset has changed from the top down, from the entire institution.”

Game No. 2: No. 10 La Salle Explorers vs. No. 15 George Washington Revolutionaries

Next up, No. 10 La Salle faced off against No. 15 George Washington.

After giving up the first two points of the game, GW led for the entire first half, going up by as much as nine. However, despite holding their lead, the Revolutionaries had a difficult time generating any real offense outside of the occasional free throw. In the first half, there was a 6:27 stretch where GW did not register a field goal, but was able to keep their lead due to a much-improved defensive effort.

GW went into halftime with a 30-23 lead of La Salle.

The second half was much more back and forth.

La Salle was able to tie the game with 11:35 left after back-to-back threes from senior guard Jhamir Brickus and sophomore center Rokas Jocius.

From that point on, GW and La Salle battled, keeping the score within two possessions the rest of the game.

Senior guard James Bishop put the GW offense on his back down the stretch, pulling up from deep and keeping the Revolutionaries in the game with his outside shooting.

As the game entered its final possessions with the clock ticking down and La Salle down 60-61, Brickus got the ball in his hands and went to work. He backed down freshman guard Jacoi Hutchinson, turned around, sank the midrange jumper and drew the foul to give the Explorers the lead with 20 seconds left in regulation.

Brickus was exceptional all day for the Explorers. He ended the day with a game-high 21 points, hauled in eight rebounds, and shot 9-16 from the field and 3-5 from three.

After Brickus missed his free throw, and GW gave the ball to Bishop and let him work. He missed his first attempt, a fadeaway midrange jumper, but with time still on the clock redshirt freshman forward Darren Buchanan Jr. was able to crash the offensive glass and kick the ball back out to Bishop for one last shot. Bishop heaved from three, but was unable to convert, ending his storied GW career and sending La Salle onto the second round for a matchup against No. 7 St. Bonaventure.

“I wasn’t ready to go home,” said Brickus. “In that moment, I was just trying to do anything that I could do for my team to win.”

“We’ve got do have our act together and do a good job tonight of debriefing from today briefly, and then we’ve got to move on to St. Bonaventure,” said La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy. “I know how good they can be… It will be an absolute war and battle out there, and we need to do our very best.”

Game No. 3: No. 11 Rhode Island Rams vs. No. 14 Saint Louis Billikens

The final game of the day was between No. 11 Rhode Island and No. 14 Saint Louis.

The Billikens controlled the first half, with redshirt junior guard Gibson Jimerson and senior forward Terrance Hargrove Jr. both scoring 12 in the opening frame to help Saint Louis jump out to a 41-32 halftime lead.

Jimerson set the tone early by hitting back-to-back threes to open the game and Hargrove Jr. hit back-to-back threes to end the half to give Saint Louis momentum heading into the final 20 minutes.

Rhode Island fought back in the second half to make it a game, and ensure that all three first round games would go down to the wire. They came out of the break firing, going on a 16-2 run through the first seven minutes, taking a 49-45 with David Green leading the charge, scoring nine points in the Rams’ run.

After continuing to go back-and-forth, Saint Louis was able to get a 74-71 lead after Jimerson hit one of two free throws, giving Rhode Island one last chance. Green missed a three with a few seconds to spare, junior guard Jaden House grabbed the rebound, retreated back to the three point line, hoisted a last second heave that was just off to give the Billikens a narrow victory and ensure a matchup with No. 6 Duquesne.

“That’s all you’re trying to win, one game. and we won one game today,” said Saint Louis head coach Travis Ford. “Now we’ve got to try and figure out how to win just one more.” Just one more is all we want. And put everything you have into one more, everything we’ve got. We don’t have many guys out there, but the ones that are out there have got a lot of fight in them.”

Second Round Schedule:

The second round of the A-10 Tournament begins Wednesday morning at 11:30 am when No. 8 George Mason faces No. 9 Saint Joseph’s. Up next at 2:00 pm, No. 5 VCU plays No. 12 Fordham. Then, No. 7 St. Bonaventure plays No. 10 La Salle at 5:00 pm. To end the day, No. 6 Duquesne plays No. 14 Saint Louis.

Make sure to stay tuned for more coverage tomorrow and the rest of the week live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

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David covers George Washington and the Atlantic 10 conference for A10Talk. He graduated from GW in 2023 and was the radio broadcaster for the men's and women's basketball teams.

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