WASHINGTON (AP) — Paced by a trio double-digit performances, top-seeded Davidson cruised past No. 8 Fordham 74-56 in the Atlantic 10 Championship Quarterfinals on Friday at Capital One Arena.
With the win, the Wildcats (26-5) move on to the program's seventh-consecutive A-10 Championship Semifinals, facing the victor between fourth-seeded St. Bonaventure and No. 5 Saint Louis on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
Sam Mennenga contributed 15 points with nine boards and five assists to lead the 'Cats while Desmond Watson tossed in 13 and Hyunjung Lee added 11 points and eight rebounds. Notably, Mennenga notched his fourth double-digit scoring effort of the past five games and serves as Davidson's fifth overall offensive option on the year. Watson, meanwhile, currently ranks seventh on the team.
"I think it just speaks to the fact that we have a lot of weapons on our team that any given night can step up," Wildcats guard Foster Loyer said. "And I think we have so many guys that do such a good job playing their role, accepting the role and then exceeding at that role.
"We had guys like Dez (Desmond Watson) and Grant [Huffman] really step up today and make some shots. Sam Mennenga playing inside. You know, keeping Luka out of foul trouble is going to be important for us. But at the same time, we have a lot of guys that can step up and help this team win."
Davidson jumped out ahead of Fordham (16-16) early on and never looked back, leading by 16 at the midway break before closing out the win by an 18-point margin.
For the Rams, Rostyslav Novitskyi posted 18 points and three blocks while Chuba Ohams tacked on 14 points and nine rebounds. Antrell Charlton had six rebounds.
"Our guys, to their credit, just never quit," Fordham head coach Kyle Neptune said. "And up, down, I truly feel like they just played hard as often as they possibly could. And if we can carry that on to next year, I think we'll be okay. We're trying to compete to win championships. But considering the fact that we dealt with a lot of adversity, a lot of injuries, guys leaving, guys out of the lineup, all things considered, I'm really proud of the way our guys competed night in and night out."