2/6/2025
A busy, two day-stretch of Atlantic-10 basketball kicked off with a nail biter between Saint Louis and UMass. And by nail biter, I mean almost-bite-off-your-finger levels of nervousness. Though it didn’t start that way, as the Minutemen led the Billikens by 10 with 6:38 to go. But Saint Louis would not go away, as a huge turnover from UMass set up the game-winning three by the Billikens’ Isaiah Swope, giving Saint Louis a 73-71 road victory. It wouldn’t be the first time a sports team from Saint Louis snatched victory away from another team in Massachusetts (looking right at you, 2019 Bruins).
In other news, VCU continues to prove themselves as the A-10’s gold standard, trouncing La Salle 96-66. This surely will be the only bad thing to happen to Philadelphia sports teams this week. The Explorers not only lost their map, but subsequently went down with their ship, as Max Shulga and Phillip Russell unleashed a volley of threes like cannonballs. Not only will Fran Dunphy need a new map, but he’ll also need a new ship.
In a highly defensive battle, the Dayton Flyers overcame the Davidson Wildcats 69-63. Dayton starters went five for five scoring 10 points or more, a feat that would make Kendrick Lamar proud after his famous diss track, “Not Like Us” went five-for-five at the Grammys. But unlike Lamar’s highly publicized beef with fellow rapper Drake, the Davidson-Dayton game was much more evenly matched. Davidson led by one with under a minute left before untimely fouls and free throws sealed a Flyers win.
Rounding out the Tuesday slate of games, my beloved Bonnies went into Windy City and got blown away by Loyola Chicago, 77-53. It was much different from the second VCU game, where at least St. Bonaventure showed promise before letting the game slip away. Rather, I felt more like Rocky watching Apollo Creed get decimated by Ivan Drago, being helpless to do anything to stop the madness.
A massive A-10 matchup kicked off Wednesday’s action, in a battle of the Georges. Mason got the better of Washington, 53-50, continuing their dominant run in the conference. The Patriots’ Jalen Haynes delivered the knockout blow like George Foreman, hitting a layup with 46 seconds to go.
Once again, another battle of the Rams! You’d think we were in the Pacific Northwest with how rams run around in the A-10. Last summary, it was VCU getting the best of Fordham. But now, it’s Fordham’s turn for Rams bragging rights, defeating Rhode Island 80-79 thanks to Jackie Johnson III’s 25 points and a game-winning layup from Matt Zona.
To round out a hectic weekday slate, Richmond picked up a much-needed conference win 73-68 over Duquesne. The Spiders’ Jason Roche led the team with 14, including going 3-3 on three pointers. Eerily like Tobey Maguire going three-for-three on Spider-Man movies (the third movie is good; I will die on that hill). And although Duquesne’s Maximus Edwards and Tre Dinkins tried teaming up like Venom and Sandman in said third movie, the hero Spider always comes out on top.
1/10/2025
You would think a Flyer would hold the advantage over a Minuteman, since planes weren’t a thing in the 1700s. Though taking flight would have you tried for witchcraft then.
But it’s 2025, and the Minutemen overcame the technological and judicial advances as UMass defeated Dayton 76-72 for their first conference win. Dayton dropped their second consecutive conference game, the first being a 20-point loss to George Washington. Dayton coach Anthony Grant must really dislike colonial history.
Speaking of George Washington, the first President’s school picked up a big road win over Rhode Island, 75-67. The game itself was a slugfest from beyond the arc, as both teams shot a combined 6-for-42 from three. Dwayne Wade’s statue was a more alluring sight than watching both teams shoot threes.
But the Revolutionaries pulled through, with two massive conference wins under their belt ahead of their January 15th matchup with Duquesne, who picked up a big win of their own this past Wednesday. The Dukes downed St. Joseph’s 85-81 in overtime, thanks in part to Tre Dinkins’ 26 points and David Dixon adding 17 off the bench. Following a 0-6 start, the Dukes have gone 7-3 including 2-1 in conference play in an attempt to defend their conference title. Wait… a Pittsburgh team losing games to subpar competition and suddenly winning big games… where have I heard this story before?
Oddly similar correlations aside, Loyola-Chicago notched their first conference win over La Salle 79-68. Although La Salle are the Explorers, they couldn’t find Jayden Dawson on a map if he was marked by a big red X. The junior guard led the Ramblers in points, rebounds and assists with 20, 6 and 3 respectively. Fran Dunphy will have to channel his inner pirate and continue searching for La Salle’s first conference win.
Rounding out the starting slate of A-10 basketball, George Mason defeated Richmond 64-58 to hand the Spiders their first conference loss. How ironic that a wolf spider scared my mom half to death just a few days ago, and now Richmond suffered their first loss in conference. Poetic justice, in my opinion.
And, in a battle of the Rams, VCU downed Fordham 73-61, the latter of the teams now 0-3 in conference play. Max Shulga once again had a great game, scoring 16 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. I will never believe that Shulga is, in fact, not a Ukrainian super soldier experiment trying to clone Luka Doncic.
Also, in a game that determined the top spot in the A-10, Saint Louis downed red-hot St. Bonaventure 73-68. The Bonnies heavily relied on their starters, as coach Mark Schmidt subbed in three players off the bench for a whopping total of 16 minutes. Maybe Schmidt thought his starting five were the Avengers, and though it would be kind of cool if Noel Brown could Hulk up and smash his way through the paint, they assembled too little too late. But the Billikens’ Gibson Jimerson looked like Hawkeye out there, scoring 28 points on 9-15 shooting and 6-11 from three. Someone should tell Jeremy Renner he has competition.
I apologize for my nerd outburst, but standings-wise, Saint Louis sits atop the A-10 at 3-0, while the Bonnies fell to 2-1 with their eight-game win-streak snapped.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be crying in a corner after the Bonnies missed out on a potential top five spot in the Domination Rankings
Comments