Three of the higher seeds advanced in Friday’s quarterfinals at Capital One Arena. Saint Joseph’s, the only lower seed to move on, needed an extra five minutes to get the job done.
Scores:
VCU 76 St. Bonaventure 59
Loyola Chicago 72 Saint Louis 64
George Mason 80 George Washington 65
Saint Joseph’s 73 Dayton 68
VCU enjoyed a 21-6 advantage in points off turnovers. The Rams, led by Jack Clark’s 17 points, had four players in double figures. Max Shulga, the A10 Player of the Year, was held to two points on one of nine shooting from the floor, Shulga was effective however, handing out a game-high 11 assists. Chance Moore and Melvin Counsel scored 19 each for the Bonnies, who were within six with nine minutes to play, before VCU pulled away.
Des Watson’s career high 25 points led the way for Loyola Chicago. Watson shot 7-14 from the field (3 of 5 from three) and 8 of 9 from the charity stripe. Drew Valentine’s Ramblers were a force on the glass. They outrebounded the Billikens 37-30 with 10 on the offensive end. Isaiah Swope of Saint Louis led all scorers with 30 points. Gibson Jimerson played the full forty minutes but was limited to four points.
George Mason had a +23 efficiency margin (123 offensive, 100 defensive) in their win over George Washington. The patriots are in the semifinals for the first time in the program’s 12 years in the A10. George Washington buried seven three pointers to take a 42-38 lead at the half. The Patriots dug in at the defensive end limiting the Revolutionaries to 23% shooting, 2 of 12 (17%) from three, shooting in the final stanza. Jalen Haynes scored a game-high 24 points for George Mason while Rafael Castro paced George Washington with 17.
Saint Joseph’s closed out an overtime win by shooting 8 of 10 from the free throw line. The Hawks never trailed in the extra session. A late first half 15-point lead dissipated and the Flyers had a 60-56 lead late in the contest. Xzayvier Brown (8 of 8 on the night) of Saint Joseph’s hit four free throws in the final 14 seconds to force overtime. Erik Reynolds II led the Hawks with 21 points while Javon Bennett and Ameal L’Etang had 15 each for the Flyers.
Semifinals:
VCU vs. Loyola Chicago
Saint Joseph’s vs. George Mason
