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Saint Louis, VCU players ejected after altercation in final seconds

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz6 hours agoNickSchultz_7

Players on both the Saint Louis and VCU benches were ejected after an altercation in the final seconds of Friday’s game. It became a 5-on-4 as the Billikens got the home victory over the Rams.

The incident occurred with just over a second to go in the game. VCU’s Nyk Lewis attempted to launch a late half-court shot when he made contact with Saint Louis’ Robbie Avila. After the play, Dion Brown was shoved by a VCU player, leading to the scuffle.

Saint Louis’ Quentin Jones and VCU’s Barry Evans both received Flagrant 2 fouls, resulting in ejections, as a result of the sequence. In addition, players who came off both benches were ejected in accordance with NCAA rules. That left VCU with four players on the court for the final 1.1 second of the matchup.

VCU had an upset on its mind through the first half of the Atlantic 10 Conference showdown, which was in ESPN’s “FridA-10” window. The Rams went up 42-33 into the break after leading by as many as 14. However, Saint Louis completely flipped the script, outscoring VCU 55-33 after the break to eventually get the 88-75 win.

Kellen Thames led Saint Louis with 16 points while three players – Avila, Ishan Sharma and Amari McCottry – all added 13. As a group, the Billikens shot 51.6% from the field, including a 10-of-25 showing from three-point distance.

On the VCU side, Lazar Djokovic led all scorers with 19 points while Brandon Jennings added 18. The Rams struggled offensively after a red-hot start as they eventually shot 33% from the floor, but they went 24-of-32 from the free throw line.

Friday’s game marked a bounce-back victory for Saint Louis, which suffered its first A-10 loss last time out against Rhode Island. The Billikens still sit atop the conference standings with a 13-1 record in league play with the league tournament on the Horizon, which put them squarely in the NCAA Tournament picture.

Saint Louis entered the matchup against VCU as a No. 8 seed in On3’s James Fletcher III’s latest Bracketology. The Billikens’ at-large hopes likely took a hit with the loss to Rhode Island earlier this week, but they now have a 1.5-game lead over VCU in the conference standings as they look to secure the No. 1 seed in the A-10 tournament next month.