Conference tournaments are about basketball but also so much more: the fans, parents, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The A-10 Tournament is taking place this week in Washington, DC, and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is covering all the angles so you can look forward to an abundance of access in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage from DC with a recap of the quarterfinal quadruple-header on Friday.
GAME #1: VCU-ST. BONAVENTURE
I had to work, but the Rams won 76-59.
GAME #2: LOYOLA CHICAGO-ST. LOUIS
I had to work, but the Ramblers won 72-64.
GAME #3 GEORGE MASON-GEORGE WASHINGTON
I arrived midway through the 2nd half and was in disbelief to see that my assigned seat was 2 spots away from John Feinstein…because he died yesterday. However, another media member told me that they were leaving John’s assigned seat in place all weekend to honor his memory, so that made me feel much better:
As I was heading to the concourse to get some food I heard a loud roar in the arena to celebrate the GMU women’s basketball team, who beat St. Joe’s in their own conference tourney title game last weekend to clinch a spot in the NCAA tourney next week:
I was a little underwhelmed by the food options, so it looked like I was going to use my meal voucher for a 2nd straight night of chicken fingers/fries. Fortunately, the media hospitality room (which did NOT have any food last night) had a sizable spread featuring chips/cheese dip/veggies/egg rolls: #eatinggoodinMYneighborhood! I did not get to see much of the game itself, but the Patriots won 80-65.
In the postgame press conference, I asked GMU SR G Jared Billups (cousin of 2004 NBA Finals MVP Chauncey) if his perfect postseason effort (6-6 FG off the bench) might be due to some sort of “clutch family gene” at work. He smiled and gave me the rare 1-word answer: “Absolutely!” (Note: the players sat in front of the wrong nametags at the podium but this is indeed Jared)
GAME #4 DAYTON-ST. JOSEPH’S
Dayton fans travel better than those of almost any other non-power-conference school I know, so of the course the band was in place to welcome them to the East Coast:
There was plenty of media present for the previous game featuring 2 local-ish teams, but most of them did not stick around for the final game of the night so I was able to upgrade myself to a courtside seat near the St. Joe’s spirit squad and everyone’s favorite mascot: #thehawkneverdies:
I rarely get to see a “wedgie”, and especially not from a great vantage point, but for once I picked the right place at the right time:
Erik Reynolds II had a nice 1st half with 10 PTS, and since Dayton could not throw it in the ocean (8-30 FG), the Hawks eased into halftime with a 33-24 lead:
The Flyers had been trailing for most of the game before a nifty 9-0 run to tie it up with just over 8 minutes left. They did not shoot much better in the 2nd half but were able to build an early REB advantage courtesy of a double-double by Nick Santos:
The game went down to the wire and St. Joe’s SO G Xzayvier Brown was inexplicably fouled with 6 seconds left. He made a pair of FTs to save his team’s season, Dayton was unable to make a shot at the buzzer, and we are heading to OT!
If you think that I can recall anything about the 4th game of a quadruple-header the went into OT then you are giving me WAY too much credit…but the Hawks pulled off the upset by a score of 73-68.
In the postgame press conference, I asked St. Joe’s C Justice Ajogbor about having to win so many games in a row to clinch a conference tourney title after coming from Harvard where it only takes 2 days to win the Ivy tourney. He said that he is used to playing back-to-back games in the Ivy League and that his teammates just need to trust each other. Since his guys have his back, he is not worried about having to win 4 games in 4 days:
Since St. Joe’s coach Billy Lange appreciated my alliteration the night before, I wondered now that he had defeated Dayton how he would prepare for the Patriots.
I thought that would be a wrap for today…until I saw the Hawks greeted loudly outside the arena by their family/friends and got a dark-lit photo of the light-hearted moment:
NOW it is a wrap for today, check back tomorrow for the semifinal doubleheader.
