Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals Recap

(W4) Xavier 87, (E1) St. Joseph’s 67
It was the upset of the year as Xavier dominated No. 1 St. Joseph’s in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

“This is a great win for Xavier University but as I told the team, we didn’t come here to beat St. Joseph’s,” Xavier head coach Thad Motta said. “We came here to try and win this tournament.”

The Xavier seniors knew the necessity of this game for their NCAA Tournament hopes and they showed this importance on the court. Lionel Chalmers, Anthony Myles and Romain Sato combined to score 37 of the Musketeers 43 points in the first half as Xavier jumped out to the astonishing 43-21 halftime lead.

St. Joe’s knew their only chance to come back rested on a run to start the second half. A run certainly took place, but it was Xavier that got off to a hot start. A quick 8-0 run opened the half as the Musketeers extended their lead to 30 and never looked back.

Xavier shot a school and tournament record 71 percent from the field and only missed 13 shots all game.

“With the way we were shooting the ball we felt like we were pretty much able to get the ball where we wanted,” Motta said. “These guys did a great job of finishing around the basket and keeping their composure.”

Sato finished with a game-high 24 points and Chalmers added 23.

St. Joe’s did the complete opposite by hitting just 35 percent from the field and making just nine of 33 from long range.

Nelson and West combined for 32 points, a far cry from the 61 they combined for in their victory over Xavier earlier this year.

“I think we are clearly one of the hottest teams in the country,” Chalmers said. “We have to continue to do what got us to this point and we’ll be fine.”
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(W2) George Washington 79, (E3) Rhode Island 50
George Washington kept alive their slim NCAA Tournament hopes by blowing out Rhode Island in the quarterfinals to set up a semifinal match-up with Xavier.

The Colonials used a 17-3 run early in the first half to blow the game open and help GW take a 20 point lead at the half.

Point guard TJ Thompson made sure the Rams didn’t get back into the game in the second half as he controlled the tempo to help GW extend their lead to as many as 30 points.

Thompson finished with 14 points and six assists to lead the Colonials.

Brian Woodward scored a game-high 18 for the shorthanded Rams. Rhode Island’s starting point guard and leading scorer Dawan Robinson was limited to just four minutes because of a back contusion he suffered in their first round match-up with LaSalle.

If GW wants to have a shot at getting a bid to the Big Dance, they will have to take care of business Friday against the Xavier Musketeers.

(W1) Dayton 69, (W5) Duquesne 56
Coming off of playing Duquesne the previous Saturday in Pittsburgh, Dayton had a virtual home game, playing at the University of Dayton Arena. Both teams seemingly traded buckets for much of the first half, which was capped by a Ramod Marshall lay-up to conclude the half with the Flyers up by a point. It was much of the same for both teams in the second half with each going on a couple of mini-runs. In the end Dayton pulled away, largely in part of Keith Waleskowski, who picked up his fifteenth double-double of the year, with 16 points and 10 rebounds. While the Dukes and the Flyers shot decently from the field, the free-throws were a little to be desired, with Dayton finishing the game at only 60 percent from the stripe. Duquesne was even worse, ending the game at only 56 percent.

(W3) Richmond 64, (E2) Temple 49
With Xavier fighting for their tournament hopes, Richmond also had theirs to consider as they beat the Owls. The Spiders made 11 three-pointers, with Mike Skrocki making five of them, finishing with a game-high, 18 points. Jermaine Bucknor threw in 17 points as Richmond cruised in the second half, really limiting Temple’s chances on the offensive hand. The only positive note for the Owls, was the play of David Hawkins. Hawkins, who finished with 20 points, but was double-teamed most of the night and really was the only Owl scoring in the losing effort.