March 9, 2013

No. 16 Saint Louis 78, La Salle 54

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Dwayne Evans had 16 points and 17 rebounds and No. 16 Saint Louis hit 17 of its 20 shots in a pull-away second half, clinching a share of the Atlantic 10 title with a 78-54 victory over La Salle on Saturday.

Kwamain Mitchell had 19 points and six assists on Senior Day for Saint Louis (24-6, 13-3 A-10), which won its first conference title since 1970-71 in the Missouri Valley. Rob Loe matched his career best with 20 points, hitting all seven shots and the Billikens shot 58 percent overall, one game after shooting a season-worst 30 percent in an overtime loss at Xavier.

Saint Louis has won 12 of 13 and can take the title outright if VCU loses at Temple on Sunday.

Tyrone Garland had 15 points off the bench for La Salle (21-8, 11-5).



Fordham 76, St. Bonaventure 72

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. (AP) - Chris Gaston and Mandell Thomas scored 22 points apiece to help Fordham beat St. Bonaventure 76-72 Saturday in the season finale for both teams.

Branden Frazier added 16 points for the Rams, who snapped a 10-game losing streak and won at St. Bonaventure for the first time since Jan. 28, 2009.

Fordham (7-24, 3-13 Atlantic 10) trailed 41-35 at the break but opened the second half on a 20-5 run to go up 55-46 with 12:35 left. St. Bonaventure responded with a 17-4 run to jump back on top, 63-59, with 6:48 showing.

Jermaine Myers hit a 3-pointer on the Fordham's next possession, sparking 12 straight points for the Rams. Gaston scored seven during the spurt as Fordham led from there.

The Bonnies (14-15, 7-9) shot 46 percent (23 of 50) but hit 9 of 27 3-pointers.

Eric Mosley, Demitrius Conger, and Youssou Ndoye scored 17 apiece for St. Bonaventure.



George Washington 81, Dayton 80

WASHINGTON (AP) - Isaiah Armwood's dunk with 2 seconds left gave George Washington an 81-80 overtime victory over Dayton Saturday in the regular-season finale for both teams.

The Colonials (13-16, 7-9 Atlantic 10), who'd lost four straight, sent the game into overtime after Dyshawn Pierre (21 points) put Dayton (17-13, 7-9) ahead 71-69 with two free throws and 59 seconds left in regulation. Lasan Kromah's layup at 0:39 tied it. Each team then missed a jumper to force overtime.

Pierre scored seven points in OT, giving the Flyers a 79-75 lead. Layups by the Colonials' Joe McDonald (16 points) and Dwayne Smith (15) tied it with 34 seconds remaining. Dayton's Matt Derenbecker missed the second of two free throws with seven seconds left.

After a Flyers' timeout, Kromah missed a layup, but Armwood (12 points) rebounded it and dunked with 0:02 left for the win.

Kevin Dillard scored 20 for Dayton.



UMass 75, Rhode Island 66

KINGSTON, R.I. (AP) - Chaz Williams had 20 points and 10 assists, and Freddie Riley scored 18 as Massachusetts pulled away to beat rival Rhode Island 75-66 Saturday in each team's final regular-season game.

Terrell Vinson chipped in 10 points for Massachusetts (19-10, 9-7 Atlantic 10 Conference).

Trailing 62-55 with 5:52 remaining, Nikola Malesevic hit a 3-pointer and Xavier Munford made two free throws to cut the Rams' deficit to 62-60 with 5:06 to go.

The Minutemen answered with a 13-6 run to close the game. Cady Lalanne's dunk and Vinson's 3-pointer started the stretch.

Lalanne scored eight points and grabbed a game-high 15 boards, helping Massachusetts outrebound Rhode Island 40-26.

Williams had 15 points and six assists in the second half, and the Minutemen made 11 of 20 3-pointers for the game.

Munford scored 21 points for the Rams (8-21, 3-13), who have now lost five straight.

Charlotte 52, Saint Joseph's 40

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Pierria Henry and Willie Clayton scored 12 points each, and Charlotte made an 11-2 run late in the second half to beat St. Joseph's 52-40 Saturday night in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Chris Braswell had 10 points, and Henry pulled down 11 rebounds for his third double-double this season for the 49ers (20-10, 8-8), who have won two straight after four consecutive losses.

Langston Galloway scored 13 points and Ronald Roberts Jr. had eight points and eight rebounds for the Hawks (17-12, 8-8). The loss snapped a two-game winning streak.

The 49ers trailed 19-18 at the break but went ahead 26-23 on Braswell's two free throws 5:12 into the second half. St. Joseph's tied it at 36-all on C.J. Aiken's dunk with 8:23 remaining, but Charlotte's 11-2 run made it 47-38 with 31 seconds left.

Charlotte made 21 of 26 from the line, St. Joseph's 9 of 15.


Butler 67, Xavier 62

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Rotnei Clarke scored 21 points and Kameron Woods scored 15 off the bench, helping Butler defeat Xavier 67-62 on Saturday night.

Clarke connected on three 3-pointers for Butler (24-7, 11-5 Atlantic 10), and converted 8 of 8 free-throw attempts.

Samaj Christon scored 20 points to lead Xavier (17-13, 9-10), and Isaiah Philmore scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Woods' effort helped Xavier build a 36-13 scoring advantage off the bench.

Butler's largest lead of the game was 10 points, Xavier's was 4.

Clarke scored 17 of his points in the second half. Woods totaled 10 of his points after intermission.


Richmond 79, Duquesne 55

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Terry Allen scored 17 points, making all seven of his shots from the field as Richmond blew out Duquesne 79-55 Saturday in the both teams' season finale.

Darien Brothers scored 14, Kendall Anthony added 12 and Derrick Williams had 11 to help Richmond (18-13, 8-8 Atlantic 10) snap a two-game skid and match a school record for most wins in a season.

Cedric Lindsay, Williams, and Anthony each made 3-pointers to start the game, sparking a 12-2 run in the first four minutes for the Spiders. Richmond led at halftime 42-26.

Richmond shot 51.7 percent (31 of 60) compared to Duquesne's 39.6 percent (21 of 53) for the game.

The Spiders led by as many as 36 points in the second half.

Derrick Colter scored 18 points and Quevyn Winters added 12 for Duquesne but were the only two Dukes in double figures. Duquesne (8-22, 1-15) has lost six straight.