NEW YORK – Kwamain Mitchell scored 19 points, including a huge 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down, and tournament MVP Dwayne Evans added 16 to lead No. 16 Saint Louis to its first Atlantic 10 tourney title with a 62-56 win over No. 25 VCU on Sunday.
The veteran Billikens stayed just poised enough against the Rams' frenetic defensive pressure and a hostile crowd to win only the second conference tournament crown in school history.
Top-seeded Saint Louis led 45-32 with less than 12 minutes left, and VCU was in all sorts of foul trouble. But the second-seeded Rams can erase a deficit as quickly as any team in the country, and VCU was within a point three minutes later.
Cody Ellis hit a 3-pointer on the Billikens' next possession, then made another clutch 3 for a 57-51 lead with more than two minutes left.
Treveon Graham led VCU with 20 points.
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