Burton’s 28 help Richmond roll in A-10 tourney

Tyler Burton scored 28 points in Richmond’s 71-38 victory over Massachusetts on Tuesday in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament in Brooklyn, New York.

Burton also had six rebounds and three steals for the Spiders (15-17), who will face George Mason in a second-round game at 2 p.m. today. Matt Grace added 13 points.

RJ Luis had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Minutemen (15-16).

Richmond took the lead with 13:57 remaining in the first half and did not give it up. Burton had 19 of his points in the first half to put the Spiders up 31-18 at the break. Richmond extended its lead to 58-25 during the second half, fueled by a 14-0 run.

Saint Joseph’s 72, Loyola Chicago 67:

Lynn Greer III had 22 points as Saint Joseph’s (15-16) defeated Loyola Chicago (10-21) in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament.

Saint Joseph’s will face George Washington in a second-round game at 5 p.m. today.

Late Monday SUN BELT FINAL Louisiana 71, South Alabama 66:

The NCAA Tournament is now all the rage in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Themus Fulks scored a careerhigh 23 points, Jordan Brown had 13 points and 16 rebounds and No. 2 seed Louisiana beat No. 8 seed South Alabama to claim the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship at Pensacola Bay Center in Florida.

The fifth NCAA Tournament berth for Louisiana (26-7) will be the Lafayette school’s first since 2014.

Louisiana’s first lead of two points or more came with 12:06 remaining in the second half on a put-back by Terence Lewis II for a 49-46 advantage.

The Jaguars (19-16) haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2008.

SOUTHERN FINAL Furman 88, Chattanooga 79:

Jalen Slawson scored 20 points as Furman won the Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville, North Carolina, to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1980.

The NCAA field contained 48 teams the last time the top-seeded Paladins made the Big Dance.

Furman coach Bob Richey had the Paladins on their way last season as the No. 2 seed until David Jean-Baptiste buried a 35-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to rally top-seeded Chattanooga to a 64-63 victory.

Furman (27-7) advanced this time.

CAA SEMIFINAL College of Charleston 77, Towson 72:

The second-seeded Cougars (30-3) continued their historic season by outlasting the thirdseeded Tigers (21-12) in the second semifinal. Towson went in front after erasing a 13-point second-half deficit, but two Ryan Larson free throws with 1:08 left put Charleston ahead 71-70. The Tigers didn’t score again until the 2-second mark.

Reyne Smith had 20 points, Ante Brzovic 19 and D Bolon and Ryan Larson 12 apiece for Charleston.

Cam Holden led Towson with 21 points, while Nicolas Timberlake had 17.

WEST COAST CONFERENCE No. 16 Saint Mary’s 76, Brigham Young 69:

Alex Ducas scored 23 points to lead four Saint Mary’s players in double figures, and the Gaels (26-16) held off a late BYU rally in the West Coast Conference semifinals. The Gaels played in their fourth WCC title game in five years Tuesday night against Gonzaga.

BYU (19-15) will wait to see if the National Invitation Tournament has a spot.

No. 9 Gonzaga 84, San Francisco 73:

Anton Watson scored 20 points and Drew Timme had 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the Bulldogs (27-5) held off the Dons (20-14). Julian Strawther added 15 points.

WOMEN BIG EAST FINAL No. 7 Connecticut 67, No. 10 Villanova 56:

Aaliyah Edwards had 19 points and 15 rebounds to lead UConn in the Big East Tournament title game in Uncasville, Connectict. Dorka Juhasz added 16 and Lou Lopez Senechal had 14 for the top-seeded Huskies (29-5).

UConn has now won 21 Big East Tournament crowns, including the last three since re-entering the conference in 2020. Maddy Siegrist led the Wildcats (28-6) with 22 points.