Richmond advances to face Xavier
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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - With its win over the University of Massachusetts in the final Atlantic 10 quarterfinal Friday night, third-seeded Richmond (25-7) advances to face No. 2 Xavier in the semifinals Saturday.
The teams will play at 3:30 p.m.
The Musketeers (24-7) earned a spot in the semifinals with a 78-73 win over Dayton and crushed the Flyers' hopes for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Dayton (20-12) will likely have to hope for a National Invitation Tournament bid.
The Flyers led 61-46 midway through the second half, but Xavier gradually chipped away and tied the game 66-66 on a drive by Jordan Crawford with 2 minutes, 37 seconds remaining in the game.
After a layup attempt by Chris Johnson of Dayton rolled off the rim, Terrell Holloway put the Musketeers ahead with a three-point play.
Chris Wright answered with a layup for the Flyers, cutting their deficit to 69-68.
Crawford hit one of two free throws to make the score 70-68.
Dayton got the ball with 36.5 seconds left, and Flyer guard Rob Lowery brought it over half court and called time-out. When a Xavier player tried to swat the ball away, a frustrated Lowery took a swing at him and was given a technical foul. Holloway made the two technical free throws and two more after Dayton was forced to foul and the Musketeers pulled away from there.
Holloway led Xavier with 22 points, Crawford scored 20 and Jason Love added 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Marcus Johnson led Dayton with 18 points. Wright added 17 points and four blocked shots.
No. 5 Rhode Island 63, No. 4 Saint Louis 47 - Rhode Island gave its NCAA Tournament at-large bid hopes a boost by upsetting the Billikens in Friday's second game.
Saint Louis (20-11) usually prefers the low-scoring games, while the Rams have thrived by running and pressing. But Rhode Island (23-8) was successful playing at a slower pace Friday.
Lamonte Ulmer led the Rams with 16 points and five rebounds. Akeem Richmond added 13 points on four 3-pointers.
Kwamain Mitchell was the only double-figure scorer for the Billikens with 18.
Rhode Island coach Jim Baron said he isn't sure where his team stood with the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
"It's tough because we can't control it. This was a great win for us as Saint Louis is a 20-win team," Baron said.
Saint Louis coach Rick Majerus, who brings back his entire team next year, said he is proud of its progress but disappointed to be ousted from the tournament.
"We had a terrific year. We were the youngest team in the country," he said. "To win 11 games and finish a definitive fourth in this league and to have closed (the season) with four wins in a row on the road, it's just so disappointing tonight."
The Billikens will wait to hear if they have earned an NIT bid.
The Rams will face Temple in the first semifinal at 1 p.m. Saturday.
No. 1 Temple 69, No. 8 St. Bonaventure 51 - The Owls got little resistance as they started their quest for their third straight A-10 Tournament title by cruising past the Bonnies in the first quarterfinal.
Temple (27-5) never trailed and led by as many as 23 late.
Lavoy Allen led the Owls with 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Juan Fernandez added 17 points including four 3-pointers.
Andrew Nicholson led the Bonnies (15-16) with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage, including a UMass sports blog, go to http://www.gazettenet.com/blog/umass-sports.
