The emotions of a heated A-10 rivalry spilled over on Friday night, as a thrilling game between No. 18 Saint Louis and VCU ended in a brawl that left the Rams with just four players on the court.
It all began when Saint Louis guard Quentin Jones was attempting to dribble out the final seconds of a double-digit win for the Billikens, a seemingly standard action at the end of a game in hand. This time it set off a chain reaction, as Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz explained after the game.
BENCHES CLEAR IN SAINT LOUIS 🤯 VCU AND SLU BRAWL ON THE COURT pic.twitter.com/IRZHItxY7L
— A10 Talk (@A10Talk) February 21, 2026
“We were dribbling the ball out. The clock was running out,” Schertz explained, according to Grace Ybarra of KMOV. “I guess we probably could have picked the ball up as opposed to dribbling it. The guy for their team went to go steal the ball, which is not illegal by any stretch. It’s certainly frowned upon but not illegal.
“So he stole the ball and went to go shoot it and Rob [Billikens center Robbie Avila] fouled him. And then their guy two-hand shoved Rob in the back. And then I think our guy came in and stood up for his teammate, shoved him back.”
There were no punches thrown, but the ensuing chaos took several minutes for officials to sort out.
“Everybody just milled around. Did what the general basketball fighting does, which is everybody is trying to get held back so they don’t have to do anything,” Schertz joked.
The entire VCU bench was ejected, leaving the Rams with just four players on the court for the game’s final 1.1 seconds. All but six Saint Louis players were ejected. Avila was assessed a personal foul while VCU’s Barry Evans and the Billikens’ Jones were assessed flagrant 2 fouls. The latter two were among the several players who were ejected.
“I think there’s certainly a healthy intensity, as there should be at the top of the league, right? We've got a lot of respect for them,” Rams coach Phil Martelli Jr. said. “I think they have some respect for us, I assume.
“It’s two tough teams, two very competitive teams, two physical teams. Stuff like that, you wish it didn’t happen but, yeah, it’s an intense game. It’s an emotional game.”
It’s not the first time emotions of the A-10 rivalry have overshadowed the action on the court. A Jan. 2025 game between the two schools was delayed with just two minutes remaining in the contest when a fight broke out between Billikens and Rams fans in the stands. The scrum resulted in several spectators getting escorted out of Chaifetz Arena by security.
On Friday night, the Rams raced out to a 42-33 lead at halftime, but the Billikens came alive from three-point range and used a 24-4 run to eat into the deficit and eventually win the game. VCU and Saint Louis aren’t scheduled to meet again in the 2025-26 regular season, but could face each other in the A-10 Tournament in March.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as What Happened in Wild Saint Louis-VCU Brawl That Left Rams With Four Players.
