VCU holds off George Mason 68-63 to claim Atlantic 10 title and NCAA berth

WASHINGTON — Max Shulga scored 18 points and Joe Bamisile sealed the win with two free throws with a half-second left as Virginia Commonwealth held off George Mason 66-63 to win the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament championship Sunday.

VCU led by eight at the break, 36-28, but George Mason got back-to-back 3-pointers from Jared Billups and Woody Newton to trail by just two, 45-43 with more than 12 minutes to play. Shulga answered with a 3 and hit a pair of free throws before finding Jack Clark for a 3 to push the VCU lead to 53-43.

Darius Maddox hit a 3 with 2:27 left to get the Patriots within one at 59-58. Coming out of a timeout, Shulga held the ball at the top of the key, then calmly knocked down a step-back 3 with 1:59 left. Jalen Haynes’ layup with 39 seconds left got George Mason within 3 but Zach Anderson missed a 3-pointer with :04 left and Newton was forced to foul Bamisile with a half-second left.

Bamisile and Jack Clark each scored 17 points for VCU (28-6). Shulga, the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, hit 8 of 9 from the line as the Rams converted 22 of 27.

Haynes led George Mason (26-8) with 17 points and eight rebounds. Maddox had 12 points to go with three steals and Anderson and Brayden O’Connor each added 10 points.

Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason finished the regular season tied for the regular season championship with 15-3 records. The Rams reached the conference championship game for the ninth time since joining the A-10 in 2012-13.