– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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WASHINGTON — Players and fans associated with the number of bubble teams across the country have their eyes fixated on the nation’s capital, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the incessant controversies coming from the White House (though we wouldn’t blame you if that was the reason as well).
As the business end of the Atlantic 10 Tournament began this afternoon inside Capital One Arena, the first team that took the floor, the top-seeded and regular-season champion VCU Rams, had many more fans rooting for them than just those in Richmond. With their strong No. 32 NET ranking and 24-6 record, VCU appears to be NCAA Tournament bound regardless of its end result in the tournament. Unfortunately for teams on the NCAA Tournament fence such as San Diego State, Indiana, Oklahoma, et al., the Atlantic 10 Conference will almost certainly be a multiple-bid league if the Rams don’t win the conference tournament.
The Rams took care of the first leg in their journey to pull off the Atlantic 10 daily double with a convincing 76-59 victory over the No. 8 seed St. Bonaventure Bonnies this afternoon. VCU won the game handily despite the fact that MAx Shulga, the A-10 Player of the Year, scored just 2 points in 36 minutes of action, missing all seven attempts from three. But what he lacked in shooting accuracy he more than made up for in setting up with teammates with 11 assists. Jack Clark led the Rams with 17 points.
In tomorrow’s semifinal, VCU will play No 4 seed Loyola Chicago, who took down fifth-seeded Saint Louis 72-64. Des Watson scored 25 points for the Ramblers, who avenged a 31-point loss to the Billikens in the Gateway City just two weeks ago.
The first game of the evening session featured a battle of District-area teams, and it was No. 2 George Mason who continued its impressive season with an 80-65 victory over No. 7 George Washington. The Patriots got 24 points from Jalen Haynes, and 30 points from their bench, including a stupendous game from guard Jared Billups. The cousin of former NBA champion and current Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, the senior guard made all six of shots from the field, including two threes, for 18 points and seven rebounds.
No. 6 Saint Joseph’s looks to continue its run in the tournament when it takes on third-seeded Dayton in the nightcap.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday’s quarterfinals, with photos taken by DC-area photographer Clifford Ray Williams. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 28 pictures in total.
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