Dayton, Rhode Island to Madison Square Garden; Saint Louis in CBI Championship
By: CCT Staff
Photo Credit: Elsestar Images
Charlotte, NC - Two Atlantic 10 teams, Dayton and Rhode Island, were selected to take part in the 2010 NIT. Now, less than two weeks later both the Flyers and Rams still remain, punching their tickets for Manhattan and Madison Square Garden as part of the NIT final four.
Third seeded Dayton (23-12) jumped on top seed Illinois (one of four top seeds) from the the opening tip. After building a 23-9 lead early, the Flyers maintained energy throughout and beat back an Illini team playing at home. Without question the most significant road win of the season for the Flyers, they were led by sophomore Chris Johnson who scored 18 points and snared seven boards. The Flyers made several timely shots to thwart Illinois runs down the stretch and advance to the semifinal round, where they will face Mississippi on Tuesday night at 7:00pm (ESPN2). Dayton scored victories over Illinois State and Cincinnati in the previous two rounds.
"We're extremely excited to be able to advance past an excellent Illinois team", said assistant coach Jon Borovich. "It's a great opportunity for our players to play in the hoops capital of the nation."
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The second seed in its bracket, Rhode Island (26-9) earned a hard-fought win over the top seed Virginia Tech Hokies in Blacksburg, Virginia. An extremely difficult venue to play on the road (the Hokies entered the game 17-1, their only loss to NCAA Tourney participant Maryland in overtime), Rhode Island overcame a 12 point, second half deficit in grinding out the victory. Delroy James led the Rams with 18 points, and vastly underrated Lamonte Ulmer chipped in 13 points, eight boards, and a big late bucket on a rebound of his own miss. Once again, the turnover battle proved critical to URI's success, as the Rams registered 16 assists to just 10 turnovers, while Virginia Tech coughed it up 16 times and mustered just 11 assists on the night.
With the victory, Rhode Island - which defeated Northwestern and Nevada in the first two rounds - advances to its first NIT semifinal since 1946, and will take on the defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels at 9:00pm on Tuesday (ESPN2).
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Be sure to check back, as College Chalktalk columnist Ray Floriani will be covering all of the NIT Final Four action from Madison Square Garden...
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The young Saint Louis Billikens (23-11) continue to amass valuable postseason experience... and hope to use the CBI (much like Chris Mooney's Richmond club last year) as a springboard for future postseason successes. Last night, SLU defeated Princeton to reach the best-of-three CBI Championship where Virginia Commonwealth awaits.
The Bills were led by the sophomore duo of Kwamain Mitchell and Willie Reed. Mitchell scored 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting and dished out five assists, while Reed recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 boards.
The best-of-three CBI Championship Series will tip off at 7:00pm (ET) on Monday, March 29 at VCU's Verizon Wireless Arena. The series will then resume at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis on Wednesday, March 31 at 8:00pm (ET). Should a third game be necessary, it will be played on Friday, April 2 in St. Louis, also at 8:00pm (ET). All three games of the Championship Series will be televised live on HDNet.
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