St. Joe’s upsets top-seeded Richmond, advances to A-10 semifinals

NEW YORK — Down goes No. 1.

Ninth-seeded St. Joseph’s came from behind Thursday to shock top-seeded Richmond, 66-61, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 men’s basketball tournament. The Hawks advance to the semifinals Saturday at the Barclays Center to face fifth-seeded Virginia Commonwealth (1 p.m., CBSSN).

The Hawks (21-12) started ice cold, falling behind by 10 to the Spiders (23-9), but then Erik Reynolds II took over. The junior guard shot 7 for 10 in the second half and finished with 30 points for the Hawks.

» READ MORE: Erik Reynolds II has St. Joe’s very much alive in the Atlantic 10 Tournament

“Erik made shots, they missed some,” St. Joe’s coach Billy Lange said. “... It was just a good basketball game. They’re terrific. So you have to be dialed in every time. And I just think that’s what happened.”

For the second game in a row, Rasheer Fleming was sent to the foul line in the final minute, his team up by two, with a chance to give the Hawks some breathing room. And for the second game in a row, the sophomore forward — who shoots 61.8% from the stripe this season — came up big when it mattered most. Fleming hit one of two, grabbed a huge defensive rebound at the other end, and returned to the line to make both shots.

Lynn Greer III also made a pair with nine seconds remaining to put the game out of Richmond’s reach.

Reynolds had been questionable to play ahead of Thursday’s game after taking a hard fall in the Hawks’ second-round win Wednesday over George Mason. Reynolds was cleared to start against Richmond, and the Hawks needed every one of his 30 points.

“Took a pretty hard fall [Wednesday], but the resources that we have, I’m extremely thankful and blessed, and they got me ready for the game,” Reynolds said.

The first-team all-conference guard made some big buckets down the stretch to keep St. Joe’s close, including a three-pointer to put the Hawks up 57-55, a lead they would keep to the end. He followed that up with a pull-up jumper to pad the advantage after a Cameron Brown steal.

Both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket early, as neither the Hawks nor the Spiders made a field goal until a Richmond jumper more than two minutes into the game. The Spiders scored 10 straight after that.

St. Joe’s missed its first nine shots, despite getting some good looks. Xzayvier Brown and Greer combined to go 0-for-10 from the field in the first half, as St. Joe’s made the same number of baskets (7-for-31) as it had turnovers.

“I feel like we came out a little flat today, but we did pick up for sure,” Reynolds said.

St. Joe’s, helped by some clutch foul shooting from Reynolds and a cold stretch by the Spiders, fought to within two.

“Something we emphasize every day is just moving the ball and playing for each other,” Reynolds said. “... The more we can get the defense scrambling, that’s what creates opportunities for us. So we just stuck with that.”

Xzayvier Brown had an open three at the buzzer that would have given St. Joe’s its first lead of the game, but it bounced off the rim.

Richmond’s big man, Neal Quinn, was making it hurt for the Hawks. Quinn was 10-for-13 from the field and sparked a 14-2 run for Richmond that raised the Spiders’ advantage back to 10. Quinn also sank his only three-point attempt for his fifth made three of the season. He finished with 21 points.

“That dude is ridiculous. Let me tell you something. He’s like the A-10 version of [Denver’s Nikola] Jokić. And so you’re picking your poison,” Lange said.

Cameron Brown did everything he could to try and extend his college basketball career a little longer, as the grad student finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, and two steals. He made a layup through traffic with 50 seconds left to give St. Joe’s its biggest lead of the game.

Some timely buckets from Xzayvier Brown, who scored all seven of his points in the second half, were also key to the comeback.

“We put the ball in X’s hands a lot. And he made some better decisions,” Lange said. “I mean, he’s going up against guys that are fourth- and fifth-year guys. And it’s really challenging for a freshman point guard in that sense, but we found something that we liked.”

Friday is an off day for the tournament before the Hawks meet VCU on Saturday. The Rams beat fourth-seeded UMass, 73-59, in the quarterfinals.