Wednesday’s A10 action was busy. Five games with one taking 55 minutes of playing time to settle the issue…
La Salle 49 Saint Joseph’s 48
Possessions: 64
Offensive efficiency: La Salle 77, Saint Joseph’s 75
Explorers made it two straight. A second consecutive win and a sweep of the Big 5 series with the visiting Hawks. La Salle held Saint Joseph’s to 12 second half points to earn the victory. Khalil Brantley came off the bench to lead La Salle with 11 points. Ejike Obinna posted a double-double for the Hawks, now in a 7-game skid. Obinna scored 14 points while pulling down 18 rebounds (7 offensive) both game-high figures.
Saint Louis 80 Rhode Island 74
Possessions: 71
Offensive efficiency: Saint Louis 113, Rhode Island 105
Trailing by 10 with six minutes remaining in the first half, visiting Saint Louis went on a 19-3 run to take a 39-33 lead into the break. The final twenty minutes the Billikens were never headed. Fred Thatch and Gibson Jimerson led the way for Travis Ford’s group. Thatch posted a 21 point, 13 rebound double-double. Jimerson knocked down five three pointers en route to a game-high 22 points. Jeremy Sheppard paced Rhode Island with 16 points.
UMass 81 Fordham 73
Possessions: 73
Offensive efficiency: UMass 111, Fordham 100
Roughly a day following the announcement that coach Matt McCall would not be returning to UMass, the Minutemen snapped a three game losing streak, avenging Sunday’s loss to the Rams as well. UMass posted a 54% eFG mark while limiting Fordham to 37%. Ty Weeks scored a game high 17 points while pulling down 10 rebounds. Coming off an injury Darius Quisenberry logged 31 minutes and led the visiting Rams with 15 points. Chuba Ohams posted a 14 point, 12 rebound double-double for Fordham.
Davidson 73 George Mason 62
Possessions: 64
Offensive efficiency: Davidson 114, George Mason 97
It was a fifth straight win for the Bob McKillop’s Wildcats, now winners in nine of their last ten. Hyinjung Lee of Davidson led all with 18 points, hitting three from long distance. George Mason had four double digit scorers, D’Shawn Schwartz, Josh Oduro, Davonte Gaines and Devon Cooper, all with 11. Patriots shot 41% from three and 36% from two point range. Host Davidson fared better inside shooting 60% while hitting ( just under their 35% norm) 33% from deep. Both teams posted an identical, and excellent, 14% turnover rate.
George Washington 98 Duquesne 93 (3 OT)
Possessions: 96
Offensive efficiency: George Washington 102, Duquesne 97
Duquesne hadn’t broken 62 in the scoring column for 13 consecutive games. They took some more time to do it in a big way but still fell short, dropping their 14th straight contest. Dukes had an outstanding 8% turnover rate, largely responsible for an efficiency surpassing their 89 A10 average. Freshman accounted for 55 of Duquesne’s points. Jackie Johnson had 30 and Amir Spears added 25. George Washington, snapped a two game losing streak putting five in double figures. Joe Basimile tied Johnson with game-high scoring honors with 30. James Bishop added 23. Colonials connected on 8 of 16 (50%) of their attempts from beyond the arc.
