National Basketball Association
Saint Joseph's 65, VCU 61
When: 1:00 PM ET, Sunday, March 16, 2014
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
Officials:
# Darryl Gladden, # Wally Rutecki, # Jeffrey Anderson
Attendance:
8886
By SportsDirect Inc.
Saint Joseph’s 65, No. 25 Virginia Commonwealth 61: Langston Galloway scored 19 points and the Hawks rallied to win their first Atlantic 10 tournament title since 1997 in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Ronald Roberts Jr. added 15 points and 11 rebounds for fourth-seeded Saint Joseph’s (24-9). DeAndre Bembry finished with 13 points and eight assists and Halil Kanacevic contributed 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawks, who received all their points from their starters.
Rob Brandenberg matched his season high with 18 points for second-seeded VCU (26-8), which was looking for its fifth conference championship in the last 11 years. Treveon Graham added 15 points and nine rebounds and Juvonte Reddic finished with eight points and eight rebounds for the Rams, who committed just five turnovers.
Galloway’s 3-pointer broke a 54-54 tie with 2:30 remaining and Briante Weber missed an open 3 from the corner on the other end. Bembry then found Roberts underneath for a dunk for a five-point lead with 1:30 remaining and the Rams shot 6-for-10 from the free-throw line in the final minute to seal the win.
Graham, the leading scorer for the Rams at 15.7 points, was held scoreless in the first half as his team fell behind by as many as eight before heading to the locker room trailing 28-24. Graham scored his first points on a three-point play in the opening minute of the second half and three ties later VCU took its first lead on a 3-pointer by Graham that broke a 40-all tie with a little over 12 1/2 minutes remaining.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Rams played without third-leading scorer Melvin Johnson (10.6), who suffered a left knee injury in the first half of Saturday’s semifinal win against George Washington. Jordan Burgess moved into the starting lineup and went scoreless. … Brandenberg set his career high of 23 points as a freshman three years ago against Georgia State. … Saint Joseph’s also beat VCU in its only regular-season meeting and is 20-5 since Dec. 7.
Top Game Performances
Saint Joseph's |
|
VCU |
Langston Galloway 19 |
Scoring |
Rob Brandenberg 18 |
DeAndre' Bembry 8 |
Assists |
JeQuan Lewis 5 |
Halil Kanacevic 14 |
Rebounds |
Treveon Graham 9 |
Langston Galloway 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Treveon Graham 5 |
DeAndre' Bembry 1 |
Steals |
Treveon Graham 2 |
Halil Kanacevic 2 |
Blocks |
Juvonte Reddic 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Saint Joseph's
|
65 |
48.0 |
6-17 |
11-20 |
13 |
38 |
5 |
2 |
12 |
VCU
|
61 |
36.9 |
5-19 |
8-15 |
9 |
35 |
6 |
6 |
5 |