Saint Louis Tops VCU 88-75 Amid Late Altercation

In a heated Atlantic 10 Conference matchup at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, No. 18 Saint Louis defeated Virginia Commonwealth 88-75 on Friday night, but the victory was overshadowed by a benches-clearing altercation in the closing seconds that led to multiple ejections.

With Saint Louis leading 88-69 and 6.4 seconds remaining, the Billikens were dribbling out the clock when Rams guard Nyk Lewis stole the ball near half court and attempted a desperation shot at the buzzer. As Lewis went up for the try, Billikens forward Robbie Avila bumped him, sending the guard tumbling out of bounds into a broadcast table. The contact quickly escalated, drawing players and coaches from both benches onto the court in a shoving match at center court. Officials intervened promptly to separate the groups, preventing the incident from turning into outright violence.

No punches were thrown in the brief scrum, according to Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz. "It was a typical basketball fight, a lot of pushing and shoving and nobody did anything," Schertz told reporters afterward. The confrontation occurred with 1.1 seconds left, prompting referees to assess flagrant 2 fouls to VCU's Barry Evans and Saint...