With the afternoon session of the Quarterfinals just completed it was official- there would be a new A10 Tournament champion. Defending champion St. Bonaventure suffered a heart breaker and was eliminated. In the evening Richmond took down their city rival and earned a trip to the semis in the process.
Davidson 74 Fordham 56
Possessions: 67
Offensive efficiency: Davidson 110, Fordham 84
Davidson won handily behind an excellent offensive effort. Wildcats had an 11% turnover rate while shooting an eFG percentage of 54%. Sam Mennenga led the way with Davidson with a complete outing- 15 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and zero turnovers. Fordham was paced by Rostyslav Novitskyl with a game-high 18 points. Chuba Ohams added 14 points, 9 rebounds. Fordham dropped to 16-16 and could be in postseason conversations. That last sentence alone attests to the outstanding job turned in by Kyle Neptune this season.
Saint Louis 57 St. Bonaventure 56
Possessions: 63
Offensive efficiency: Saint Louis 90, St. Bonaventure 89
In a game epitomizing ‘survive and advance’ Saint Louis was able to do just that. Travis Ford’s club moved on after the Bonnies’ Kyle Lofton (an 83% free throw shooter) missed two from the charity stripe in the final seconds. Francis Okuro was a huge factor for the Billikens with a 14 point, 12 rebound outing. Gibson Jimerson was 6 of 9 from deep for a game-high 20 points. The Bonnies forced Saint Louis into an excessively high TO rate of 27%. Point guard Yuri Collins had 9 assists for the Billikens but was guilty of 6 of those miscues. Bonaventure struggled from the field with an eFG mark of 42%, offset by a low 16% TO rate. Jalen Adaway led the Bonnies with 18 points. At 20-9 a NIT bid appears to be a good possibility for Mark Schmidt’s Bonnies.
Dayton 75 UMass 72
Possessions: 64
Offensive efficiency: Dayton 117, UMass 112
It was a tough, comeback win for Anthony Grant and his Flyers. They trailed by 10 late in the first half and by three with just under two minutes remaining in the contest. UMass didn’t shoot well from deep (5 of 20 for 25%) but did take care of the ball with only 6 turnovers (9% TO rate). Minutemen received another great effort from junior guard Noah Fernandes- 26 points, 4 assists and only 2 turnovers. Dayton’s JaRon Holmes was the scoring leader with 28 points. Holmes added 5 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Once again, the Flyers’ balance with four in double figures was too much to overcome despite another valiant UMass effort.
Richmond 75 VCU 64
Possessions: 66
Offensive efficiency: Richmond 114, VCU 97
Richmond won the battle against their city rivals to advance to the semifinal. VCU has had turnover problems on offense and they were evident as their TO rate was 24%. VCU has forced opponents into turnovers but not on this night. Richmond committed just 11 for a commendable 17% rate. Chris Mooney’s Spiders shot better from beyond the arc (47%) than inside (39%). Jacob Gilyard led the way for Richmond with a game-high 32 points (7 of 12 from three) , 3 assists and 4 steals. Vince Williams scored 18 points while grabbing 9 rebounds for The Rams (21-9) who can only wonder what Selection Sunday may or may not bring.
