Mid-Week A-10 Wrapup: Mason Wins on Senior Night, Dayton Edges VCU
 |
| [PHOTO: GEORGE MASON ATHLETICS] |
 |
| [H/T: YAHOO! SPORTS] |
Peter Solari, Contributing Editor Follow @4PeteSakeNY
It was Senior Night at Eaglebank Arena on Wednesday and the resurgent George Mason men's basketball team sent their elder statesmen out in style, with a 63-62 win over Duquesne, after the Dukes missed three potential game-winning shots in the closing seconds. The Patriots are now 19-11 overall, and 9-8 in the Atlantic 10. More from GoMason.com:
The Patriots shot just 40.3 percent (25-62) overall and 16.7 percent (3-18) from 3-point range. But Mason earned the victory on the strength of forcing 12 Dukes turnovers, which the Patriots converted into an 18-5 edge in points off turnovers for the game.[BOX SCORES FROM YAHOO! SPORTS]
At 9-8, the Patriots are tied with George Washington for sixth place in the A10 standings.
"We can take some positives from this game," head coach Dave Paulsen said. "We did enough to get the win, but it was a pretty poor performance from our team. It was a reflection from one of our worst practices yesterday and our lack of focus in shootaround today. For me, it's not about wins and losses – it's about excellence. We need to be as good as we can be. We were lucky to escape this one."
Redshirt-senior Jalen Jenkins led the Patriots with 13 points (5-9 FG) and grabbed six rebounds, while fellow senior Marquise Moore posted eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds in 38 minutes of work.
Sophomore Otis Livingston II chipped in 12 points and a game-high five assists and fellow sophomore Jaire Grayer tallied eight points and made a pair of 3-pointers.
It's
only been five years since Mason knocked off Villanova in the 2011 NCAA
Tournament, but that's enough time to make a college program
irrelevant. Making matters worse, were the rival VCU Rams, who left the
CAA a year ahead of Mason, and have been at the top of the A10 ever
since. The Rams transformed themselves into a national powerhouse, while
the Patriots fell off the earth. There was a time I questioned whether
the move to the A10 was too much for Mason, and if they were destined
to become one of those basement-dwelling schools that only exist to be a
doormat for the rest of the league. But with Paulsen and Athletic
Director Brad Edwards in place, the future is bright in Fairfax,
Virginia. Don't be surprised if the Patriots are playing basketball
beyond this year's Atlantic 10 tournament.
The Atlantic 10's two heavyweights, Dayton and VCU staged an epic battle
on Wednesday night in Dayton, where the hometown flyers edged the Rams
79-72. to claim the A10 regular season title outright. More from the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
CLASH OF THE A10 TITANS IN DAYTON
 |
| PHOTO: RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH] |
 |
| [H/T: YAHOO! SPORTS] |
For the second straight season, a VCU/Dayton game determined the regular-season Atlantic 10 champion. Last year, Dayton beat the Rams in overtime to clinch a share of the conference title.
This year, the Rams lost their chance to do the same, falling 79-72 to Dayton as the Flyers clinched the Atlantic 10 title outright.
After trailing by multiple possessions for most of the game, VCU pulled within 2 with 1:17 left. The Rams caught a break on their next play when Dayton knocked the ball out of bounds with 22 seconds left in the game. With a fresh shot clock, VCU called a play it often runs in practice — a JeQuan Lewis 3-point shot from the corner.
“We hadn’t had the lead all game, and I felt like on the road, we had to go for the kill shot and try to get the 3,” VCU coach Will Wade said. “I didn’t think overtime favored us too much, so it was the right time to call it and the right time to run it.”
But Lewis’ attempt fell short, and Dayton senior Kyle Davis grabbed the rebound while drawing a foul. Davis made both free throws to put Dayton up 76-72, and Flyer seniors Kendall Pollard and Scoochie Smith made four free throws in the last 12 seconds to seal the game on their Senior Night.
[BOX SCORES FROM YAHOO! SPORTS]
AROUND THE LEAGUE
 |
| [PHOTO: GEORGE WASHINGTON ATHLETICS] |
Now here's a look at all of this week's A10 men's basketball action. Click each game's corresponding link for full coverage.
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 28, 2017
 |
| [FULL COVERAGE FROM ESPN] |
WEDNESDAY MARCH 1, 2017
 |
| [FULL COVERAGE FROM ESPN] |
 |
| [FULL COVERAGE FROM ESPN] |
 |
 |
 |
 |
And here are the league's updated standings, courtesy of ESPN:
LOOKING AHEAD
Every
A10 school will be back in action Saturday for their final regular
season contests. After the dust settles, we will finally know each
team's seed for next week's Atlantic 10 Championship in Pittsburgh.
Dayton has already clinched the top spot, but with the standings so
close, everything else is still pretty much up in the air. Here's a look
at Saturday's schedule in the A10:
SATURDAY MARCH 4, 2017
SAINT JOSEPH'S @ DUQUESNE - 2:00 PM
FORDHAM @ LASALLE - 2:00 PM
GEORGE MASON @ VCU - 2:00 PM - MASN
MASSACHUSETTS @ SAINT BONAVENTURE - 4:00 PM
SAINT LOUIS @ RICHMOND - 4:00 PM
DAVIDSON @ RHODE ISLAND - 6:00 PM
DAYTON @ GEORGE WASHINGTON - 8:00 PM - CBS SPORTS NETWORK
The 2017 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Championship runs from March 8-12 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The top four seeds will receive double byes and won't have to play until Friday March 10th. Seeds 5-10 will receive a single bye and will play their first games on Thursday March 9th. The bottom four seeds (11-14) will open up the tournament on Wednesday March 8th, and will essentially have to play their way into the tournament. Here's is the full schedule for the A10 tournament:
 |
| [H/T: ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE] |
We will update this schedule after this weekend, when we're able to fill in the blanks. For more information on the 2017 A10 Championship, including tickets and accommodations, visit the official website of the Atlantic 10 Conference here.
