A-10 Finals
The basketball was spectacular, the attendance was decent, and the atmosphere was amazing. Chalk up the A-10 Men’s Basketball Tournament at Boardwalk Hall March 7-10 as a major success for the conference and for Atlantic City.
When Xavier was upset by the upstart Rhode Island Rams in the quarterfinals, it meant that two teams would make it into the NCAA March Madness field from the A-10.
That came to pass as the George Washington Colonials, with their passionate fans in tow, are headed to the Big Dance after defeating Rhode Island 78-69 in the championship game Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall. GW, in wins over St. Joseph’s, St. Louis and Rhode Island, used its excellent pressure defense to great advantage. The hot Rhode Island Rams, who pulled an upset victory over Xavier in the semi-finals, 79-71, could not duplicate their success against the Colonials.
In a hard-nosed battle that featured tough defense, the Colonials forced 14 first-half turnovers and held Rams’ stars Jimmy Baron and Kahiem Seawright to 10 and 8 points. Carl Elliott had 17 points for GW. Maureece Rice has 12 points but did most of his damage as a defense stopper. Will Daniels scored a career high 29 for the Rams, but did not have enough help on the offense end.
The Coloniels were given an 11th seed in the NCAA East bracket and will play Vanderbilt. An upset would not be a shock and if they were to win two games they could face fellow Washington, D.C. rivals Georgetown in the Sweet Sixteen.
Xavier, with its 24-8 record, earned an 8th seed in the NCAA South bracket. They should beat BYU, and if they do they would face state rivals Ohio State in the next round.
UMass, despite losing to St. Louis in the second round of the A-10, earned a berth in the NIT. The Minutemen host Alabama tomorrow night at 9:30, televised on ESPN.