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.
CLASH OF THE A10 TITANS IN DAYTON
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:
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.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
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
WEDNESDAY MARCH 1, 2017
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:
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.
