Saint Joseph’s punched its ticket to the NCAA tournament on Sunday with a 87-74 win over VCU in the Atlantic 10 tournament title game at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Hawks were the No. 4 seed in the tournament and ran through a solid field of teams, including George Washington in the quarterfinals, Dayton in the semifinals and an NCAA tournament-bound Rams team in the finals.
The Hawks (27-7) were led by 30 points, five rebounds and four assists from DeAndre Bembry and 26 points and 12 rebounds from Isaiah Miles as the two star players stepped up in a huge game to carry Saint Joe’s to the dance. The win and A-10 tournament title likely gives Saint Joseph’s somewhere in the No. 7 to No. 9 range and they’ll be a dangerous team with weapons like Bembry and Miles.
Bembry was 13-for-16 from the field and looked dominant against VCU. He’s one of the best players in the country you might not know about entering the NCAA tournament.
VCU (24-10) lost a rugged and physical game as Korey Billbury and JaQuan Lewis each had 19 points. They should also find themselves in the No. 7 to No. 9 range in terms of seeding later today and they’re going to be a tough out for teams that aren’t prepared to face their style of play.