SMU Balanced in 94-88 Win over VCU
Dec 21 | Men's Basketball
San Juan (Puerto Rico) - SMU's Dallas Kimball connection carried the Mustangs to a 94-88 win over Virginia Commonwealth in the second round of the San Juan Shootout Thursday.
Senior G Jeryl Sasser and sophomore G Quinton Ross combined for 45 points (24 and 21 points respectively), 11 rebounds, six assists and two blocks in help SMU advance to Friday's championship game where it will face either Nebraska or Kent State Friday at 4:15 p.m. (CT). Sasser led all scorers with 24 points while Ross recorded his first 20-point game at SMU with a career-high 21 points.
SMU (8-1) overcame a four-point deficit to tie the score 79-79 with 4:00 to play before Ross and Sasser took over the game. Sasser put the Mustangs up for good at 81-79 with two free throws and the duo scored the next seven points before DeWayne Floyd's dunk with 34 seconds remaining gave SMU a six-point lead.
As a team, the Mustangs was a perfect 18-for-18 from the free throw line in the first half, and 37-for-47 to tie a school record for free throws attempted on the road. Junior G Damon Hancock once again led the way from the stripe with 10 points on 13 attempts and finished with 19 points and five rebounds. Sasser was 8-of-11, Ross 7-of-7 and Willie Davis 5-of-5. Davis finished the game one point shy of his third double-double of the year with nine points and 11 rebounds.
Led by Dominic Jones' 23 points, Virginia Commonwealth (7-4) jumped out to an 11-point lead with 7:13 remaining in the first half as SMU struggled to make just 13-of-30 field goal attempts. But free throw shooting allowed the Mustangs to overcome the deficit to take a 47-44 lead into the break.
"We took advantage of our free throw opportunities better than we ever have since I've been at SMU," sixth-year head coach Mike Dement said. "Sasser and Ross made some tough shots and carried us down the stretch and Davis was strong for us on the defensive glass again. But we wouldn't have won this game without contribution from the other guys. Our big guys (Mike Niemi, Jibran Kelley and Floyd) did a great job against their tall post players and Lavardicus Atkins gave us some quality minutes in relief of our guards."
Niemi, who was averaging 7.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in SMU's two previous games, got the start and finished with six points and three rebounds in 14 minutes of action. Kelley scored four points and Floyd added nine points - including his dunk to punctuate the victory.
SMU has now won its last four games after losing at No. 6 Tennessee and will play for its second-straight mid-season tournament championship tomorrow. SMU won the Pizza Hut Classic in Springfield, Mo., last season with a 70-60 win over Southwest Missouri State.
