A-10 fines, reprimands VCU, St. Louis for fracas

The Atlantic 10 will not suspend any players who participated in a fight that overshadowed the end of Saint Louis' come-from-behind win over VCU Friday night and left the Rams with just four players to end the game, the league announced.

The league did issue reprimands and fines.

With seconds to play in the Billikens' 88-75 win, both benches cleared after players from both teams pushed and shoved one another. Every bench player for the Rams was ejected and all but two players on Saint Louis' bench were ejected from the game, leaving VCU with only four players to end the game and Saint Louis with six.

"The Atlantic 10 has issued reprimands to both Saint Louis and VCU for violating sportsmanship policies in the A-10 Code of Conduct during the incident at the conclusion of the Friday night game," the league said in a statement on Saturday. "Additionally, both programs will be fined according to conference policy. There will be no conference-issued suspensions as the officials adjudicated the incident within the prescribed rules of the game in exemplary fashion. This was an unfortunate end to a great college basketball game between two of the best teams in the nation. The A-10 considers the matter closed and looks forward to the remainder of the regular season and the Atlantic 10 Championship in Pittsburgh in March."

With his team up double digits in the final seconds, Saint Louis guard Quentin Jones tried to dribble out until the final buzzer but not before he bumped an opposing player. VCU's Nyk Lewis then stole the ball and Saint Louis standout Robbie Avila bumped Lewis out of bounds. That sequence led to players and staffers from both teams spilling onto the floor in a chaotic scene.

As the officials went to the monitors, players from both teams continued to chirp at one another.

Avila was subsequently whistled for a foul that led to three free throws for VCU. And VCU's Barry Evans and SLU's Jones were both hit with flagrant 2 fouls and ejected. Also, most of the players on SLU's bench and all of the players on VCU's bench were ejected, leaving the Rams with four eligible players to end the game.

"It was a real competitive game. Obviously, emotions run high throughout the game," Avila, who scored 13 points in the come-from-behind win, told reporters after the game. "It got the best of us. It was a real close game. We've battled the last two games. There is no ill intentions between anybody. Just the emotions of the game. The competition. That's all that was."

With the win, Saint Louis extended its lead in the race for the Atlantic 10 championship in a victory over the second-place Rams. It was a stunning comeback.

With 18:42 to play in the game, VCU had a 45-35 edge over the Billikens. But Josh Schertz's squad launched a 53-30 run the rest of the way to seize the win.

The ending was wild but Avila said, "That's not who we are."