NEW YORK (WRIC) — The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Rams narrowly missed out on the chance to snag a second consecutive Atlantic 10 Championship victory, losing 57-51 to the Duquesne University Dukes on Sunday.
Both teams stepped onto the Barclay Center court at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 17, fresh from the previous day’s victories.
On Saturday, the No. 5 seeded Rams beat St. Joseph’s Hawks by six points and the No. 6 seeded Dukes beat the St. Bonaventure Bonnies by 10 points.
The game began with the Dukes creating a substantial lead, scoring 11 points in the first five minutes.
The Rams struggled to keep up, trailing by as many as 18 points during the first half. By halftime, the score was 36-22, with nearly half of the Rams’ 22 points scored by a single player, Joe Bamisile.
Near the beginning of the second half, some streamers in the Dukes’ colors meant to rain down if the team were to win fell over the crowd, stalling play for a brief time. VCU commentators believed this was an accidental press.
The Rams’ Kuany Kuany scored three out of three free throws following a foul called on the Dukes, closing some of the gap. This streak of steady gains continued, with the Rams cutting an 18-point deficit down to as low as six in the first part of the second half.
Bamisile began another streak in the final minutes of the second half, continuing to be the driving force behind the Rams this championship game.
The Dukes pushed back hard, however, and despite the Rams’ best efforts, the Dukes racked up multiple last-minute free throws and finished strong.
The Dukes’ top scorer was Dae Dae Grant with 10 points. However, Bamisile outscored every player on the court with his final total of 20 points.
Prior to this year, the Dukes had not been in a Championship final since 2009, when they lost to the Temple University Owls. Until this year, they had not won a Championship final since 1977 — the year of the A-10’s inception. They will now advance into the NCAA Tournament.
The Rams took home both the regular season and the A-10 championships in 2023.
