Top-seed Davidson shot 50.9 percent from the floor and drilled 10 3-pointers to defeat fifth-seeded Saint Louis 84-69 Saturday in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference Men’s Basketball Championship at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Saint Louis slips to 23-11 overall, while Davidson improves to 27-5 and advances to tomorrow’s A-10 final.
Terrence Hargrove Jr. led the Billikens in scoring with 14 points, thanks in part to a career-high-tying four 3 pointers, while also grabbing a team-high six rebounds. Yuri Collins chipped in 13 points and seven assists. DeAndre Jones added 11 points for the Billikens.
The Billikens shot the ball well – 42.4 percent from the floor, 39.1 percent from 3-point range, and 71.4 percent from the line – but the Wildcats were hot from 3-point range at the outset and led wire-to-wire.
Fred Thatch Jr. (eight points) scored on a lay-in to pull SLU to within one of the lead at 16-15 midway through the first half, but that is as close as the Billikens would be the rest of the way. Davidson would hit five 3s the rest of the half and went into the locker room with a 20-point lead.
The Davidson advantage grew to as many as 23 in the second half, but the Billikens did not go down quietly. A Jones 3-pointer pulled SLU to within 12 of the lead, but it was too late and Davidson held on for the double-digit victory.
