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VCU beats Davidson to reach A-10 title game

Mar 14, 2015 - 10:59 PM Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - The Davidson Wildcats were unable to pull off another comeback win on Saturday.

Treveon Graham and Mo Alie-Cox each scored 18 points as the VCU Rams held off the 24th-ranked Wildcats, 93-73, in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Top-seeded Davidson rallied from an 18-point deficit to stun La Salle at the buzzer in the quarterfinals on Friday. The Wildcats trailed by 22 points early in the second half Saturday before going on a 19-2 run to get within five. The Rams, however, scored the next 10 points and held on for the win.

Graham also pulled down nine rebounds for the fifth-seeded Rams (25-9), who will play Dayton in the A-10 championship game on Sunday. JeQuan Lewis and Terry Larrier tallied 13 and 11 points, respectively.

"We played with a lot of enthusiasm today," said Graham. "We wanted to go out there and attack from the get-go like I said earlier. We had our ups and downs and we responded pretty well today and we're going to have to do that the rest of the season."

Tyler Kalinoski, who hit the game-winning shot on Friday, had 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Wildcats (24-7), who had a 10-game winning streak snapped. Jordan Barham and Jack Gibbs contributed 18 points apiece.

"I think it was Lou Holtz that said, nothing is as good as it seems and nothing is as bad as it seems; the exuberance of the locker room 24 hours ago versus the sadness in the locker loom today, quite a contrast," said Davidson coach Bob McKillop.

Davidson started the game on a 16-4 spurt, but the Rams responded with a 13-2 surge to get within one.

Trailing 23-20, VCU ended the first half on a 24-5 run. Graham scored eight points during the flurry that Alie-Cox capped with a three-point play for a 44-28 halftime lead.

Jordan Burgess' three-point play gave the Rams a 55-33 edge with over 15 minutes to play and VCU wasn't threatened thereafter.

Game Notes

VCU shot 49.1 percent from the field and went 12-of-24 from beyond the arc ... The Rams outrebounded the Wildcats by a 40-30 margin ... VCU will be looking for its first A-10 tournament crown after losing the last two finals. The Rams will play in their fifth straight conference championship game (2011, 2012 CAA).