On Sunday, it came right down to the final second for two teams, rivals since their CAA days. VCU edged George Mason 68-63 to win the A10 Championship at Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C. The Rams (28-6), seeded 11th, move on to face 6th seeded BYU on Thursday in Denver in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. George Mason (26-8) is headed to the NIT. The Patriots will host Samford in the first round on Wednesday. Numbers and notes…
Possessions: 63
Offensive Efficiency: VCU 108, GMU 100
Four Factors:
eFG Pct.- VCU 49, GMU 42
FT Rate- VCU 57, GMU 34
OREB Pct.- VCU 37, GMU 36
TO Rate- GMU 18, VCU 25
Kenpom.com MVP: Jack Clark, VCU- 17 points, 6 rebounds, was also named A10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
In a game with four ties and no lead changes, this was a contest with an uncertain outcome with less than 30 seconds to play. VCU led by 10 points with just under 10 minutes remaining. The Patriots came storming back to close within one with 2:27 left. A Max Shulga three pointer pushed the VCU lead back to four. The Patriots were not finished. Trailing by three with less than 10 seconds left Zach Anderson had a good look from three. Anderson’s attempt went in and out. Joe Bamisile of VCU, fouled after Anderson’s missed attempt, hit two free throws with less than a second left to ice the game.
Shulga was the game-high scorer with 18 points. Clark and Bamisile 17 each for VCU. Jalen Haynes paced George Mason with a 17 point, 8 rebound effort. The Patriots had four players in double-digits as Darius Maddox scored 12 and Brayden O’Connor and Anderson added 10 each.
The Patriots forced VCU into an exceptionally high 25% turnover rate. Ryan Odom’s Rams won the rebounding battle 36-33 and shot 22 of 27 (82%) from the charity stripe.
For VCU it was their second A10 championship in the last three seasons. VCU’s three championships have come under three different coaches- Shaka Smart in 2015, Mike Rhoades in 2023 and now Ryan Odom.
George Mason was hoping to get in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011, when Jim Larranaga was on the sidelines. Tony Skinn’s Patriots posted their most A10 wins, 15, in program history. They shared the regular season title with VCU.
