George Mason has continued to its show strength in conference play with a win over St. Bonaventure. Dayton has won two-straight after its resounding victory over Duquesne. Here’s a look at some of the key Atlantic 10 matchups outside of Amherst.
George Mason vs. St. Bonaventure (Jan. 21):
The George Mason Patriots walked into St. Bonaventure and beat the Bonnies (15-5, 3-4 A-10) 75-62. This was the first Patriots (15-5, 6-1 A-10) win in St. Bonaventure since 2004 and it was all due to a collective team effort with four different George Mason players reaching double digits.
Coming into the game, the Patriots were feeling confident off a four game win streak. That confidence was seen from the jump as they cruised out to an early 33-15 lead. These efforts were led by senior Zach Anderson who knocked down 5-of-8 3-pointers throughout the game as the Patriots went into the intermission up 14 on the Bonnies.
St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt encouraged his players to continue to fight going into the second half. Through the double-digit efforts of Melvin Council Jr. and Duane Thompson, the Bonnies cut it to nine. However, George Mason pulled away again and ended the game getting buckets at will through a 14-point effort from Darius Maddox, highlighted by a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe. The Patriots won this one by 13 and improved their conference record to 6-1 while St. Bonaventure fell to 3-4.
Next for George Mason is a week off before they host Loyola on Wednesday, Jan. 29. As for St. Bonaventure, the road doesn’t get much easier as they travel to VCU on Jan. 24 and then will host Dayton on Jan. 28.
Dayton vs. Duquesne (Jan. 21):
The Dayton Flyers soared into victory against the Duquesne Dukes, winning 82-62. The 20-point victory by the Flyers (13-6, 3-3 A-10) starred senior Enoch Cheeks who scored 23 points to propel his team to success.
The Dukes (9-10, 4-2 A-10) came into the game with a 4-1 record in the conference after a disappointing start to the season as the reigning A-10 champions were getting their confidence back. Dayton on the other hand was struggling and went into this game with a 2-3 conference record after getting key victories earlier in the season against UConn and Marquette. This matchup had become a must-win game for the Flyers at home.
Dayton started confidently while its offense was finding open shooter after open shooter. The Flyers knocked down nine threes in the first half to break out a 19-point halftime lead. Redshirt junior Malachi Smith played well in the first half in his facilitating role and ended with nine assists.
Duquesne couldn’t respond coming out of the break as Dayton’s lead ballooned to 30 at the midpoint of the half. Cheeks and company didn’t give the Dukes any window for a comeback as the Flyers took care of business in front of their home crowd.
Dayton will try to continue this momentum on Friday, Jan. 24 against Saint Joseph’s at home. On the other side, Duquesne plans to recover the success they had to start conference play on Sunday, Jan. 26 at noon in the Bronx against a struggling Fordham team.
Other Notable Results:
VCU dismantled Rhode Island 81-57, improving its conference record to 5-1.
Saint Louis took care of La Salle winning 64-52 courtesy of a Robbie Avila 21-point performance.
Saint Joseph’s had no problems on the road against Davidson, winning 78-61.
Fordham continued to struggle in its lost to Loyola 70-66.
Standings Update:
The conference standings are starting to shape up as George Mason, VCU and Saint Louis continue to show signs of domination as they round out the top, each with only one loss. The middle of the pack saw Duquesne and UMass, teams with low non-conference pedigree, rising in recent conference play. Multiple teams continue to struggle in the bottom seeding while Fordham still searches for its first conference win this season.
Zeke Altman can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @EzekielAltman
