Hoops in the Hall
The Atlantic 10 Basketball Tourney got off to a roaring start as the league’s parity provided a slate of mostly close games. Only St. Joe’s, seeded fifth, had a relatively easy time against the twelfth seeded Fordam, beating up on the Rams 80-62 behind Pat Calathes’ 23 points.
The evening session began with a track meet breaking out at Boardwalk Hall. The Duquesne Dukes, a team that runs whenever possible, faced a La Salle eam that was willing to beat them at their own uptempo game. Barely seven minutes into the contest and both teams had twenty points, suggesting the final score might reach triple digits. However, the blistering pace and high shooting percentages of the first half slowed down considerably in the second stanza.
The Atlantic 10’s all-time 3-point shooter, La Salle’s Darnell Harris, had a slow first half. In the second half, as both teams tightened down their defense and slowed the pace, the Dukes forged ahead behind a career game by Reggie Jackson, who finished with 29 points. The Dukes has a 7-point cushion several times, including a 72-65 advantage with less than six minutes to play. That’s when Darnell Harris and Rodney Green went to work. The Explorers tied the game at 74 using a 9-2 run with 2:36 to play. With less than a minute to go, Darnell Harris (21 points) launched a 3-pointer from outer space four feet beyond the arc and it was nothing but net to tie the game. Rodney Green hit a free throw with 28 tics remaining (he finished with 22 points) and the Explorers held on 82-79 as a Gary Tucker triple attempt bounced off the rim.
The Explorers are looking for revenge against Temple tonight in the 6:30pm game. They played last Saturday and the Explorers were blown out at home on senior night. Said Darnell Harris after the game, “Now we get Temple. I know the guys are going to be ready; it’s a payback game."
In the nightcap, the Rhode Island Rams wanted to bounce back from a nightmarish second half of the season, coming into the tourney having lost seven of nine games after being ranked in the AP Top 25 earlier in the season. However, despite 25 points from the Rams’ Jimmy Baron, the Charlotte 49ers earned the win when Charlotte’s Michael Gerrity was fouled with three-tenths of a second left in the game. The 49ers had the ball because Kahiem Seawright was called for an offensive foul on a screen with 8.2 seconds to go. Gerrity made both free throws and Charlotte walked off the court with the 75-73 win. Charlotte’s Leemire Goldwire, hit some clutch treys down the stretch, including one that was well beyond the NBA 3-point arc. He finished with 23 points.
In the opening contest of the day, the St. Louis Billikens threw a scare into the Dayton Flyers, a team that was ranked No. 14 in the AP before losing the services of rookie of the year candidate Chris Wright. In a game that went to overtime, Marcus Johnson scored eight of his team high 16 in the extra period, and the Flyers pulled out a 63-62 win.
The victory set-up an exciting game to start the action today at Boardwalk Hall. At noon the Flyers take on their Ohio rivals, Cincinnati’s Xavier, in a game that should have all the excitement of a Big Five battle.
The 2:30pm game will feature St. Joe’s vs. the young and talented Richmond Spiders, one of the surprise teams in this year’s A-10.
Revenge is the word for the Big Five clash that follows at 6:30pm as La Salle looks for payback against Temple.
In the 9pm nightcap, UMass takes on Charlotte, who looked like they want to play on after their victory over Rhode Island.