Score: No. 1 VCU 68, No. 2 Dayton 56
Location: Brooklyn, N.Y. (Barclays Center)
Records: VCU 27-7, Dayton 22-12
Schedule Note:: Atlantic 10 Championship
 
The short story: VCU trailed Dayton by as many as 11 points early in the second half before the Rams went on a 19-6 run and retook the lead at 49-47 on a Jalen DeLoach dunk with 11:09 left. VCU held onto its slim lead until the Rams closed the game on an 8-0 run, jumpstarted by a 3-pointer from Jamir Watkins, and clinched the A-10 Championship.
 
OPENING TIP

• DeLoach, a sophomore, recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. He shot an efficient 5-of-8 from the floor. It's his fifth double-double this season
• Junior guard Ace Baldwin, Jr. had a team-high 16 points while adding seven assists
• Redshirt sophomore Jamir Watkins had 13 points and eight rebounds, including going 3-of-4 from 3-point range
• Dayton was led by DaRon Holmes II who had 28 points and 16 rebounds

THE DIFFERENCE

• The Rams shot 47.3 percent from 3-point range (8-of-17) while limiting the Flyers to shoot just 13.6 percent (3-of-22)
• VCU shot 46.2 percent overall from the floor and held Dayton to just 32.1 percent
• The Black and Gold led in bench points 17-2 over the Flyers
• VCU and Dayton traded blows early, with the Rams holding an 18-15 lead with 7:44 remaining in the first half
• The Flyers answered back and retook the lead, extending it to to 36-28 on a Holmes II layup with 10 seconds left, but a pair of Baldwin Jr. free throws cut the deficit to 36-30 at the half
• Dayton pushed its lead to 41-30, its largest of the game, with 18:59 left in the second half. The Rams immediately fought back with the 19-6 run. The Black and Gold eventually pushed the run to  30-13 overall to retake the lead at 60-54 on a DeLoach layup with 3:31 left
• Dayton cut the deficit to 60-56 on its next possession but Watkins' 3-pointer allowed the Rams to pull away for the win.

NOTABLE

• VCU clinched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the 19^th  time in program history
• The Rams won their second Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship and first since 2015. It's the 10^th overall tournament championship for the Rams
• It will be the third NCAA Tournament appearance for VCU under Mike Rhoades

NEXT UP
VCU will face the winner of No. 2 Dayton and No. 3 Fordham on Sunday, March 12. The game will tip at 1 p.m. and be nationally televised on CBS.