Jon Axel Gudmundsson sets the tone again in Davidson’s victory over VCU
Davidson and Virginia Commonwealth were locked in a close game Friday at Belk Arena. Then, as has been the case so often over the past four seasons, senior guard Jon Axel Gudmundsson made a game-defining play in what would become a 75-65 Atlantic 10 victory against the Rams.
With his team leading 58-53, Gudmundsson dove for a loose ball at midcourt and, after securing it, flipped it to teammate Kellan Grady, who went to the basket and was fouled. Grady made both free throws to up the Wildcats lead to seven.
How fitting Gudmundsson’s play was.
“It was a defining moment in the game,” Wildcats coach Bob McKillop said. “It was that fight that got us that ball and it reverberated throughout the entire team. It’s that kind of toughness that has signified his time in a Davidson uniform and he elevated his game to levels that we never thought he could achieve, but he certainly has.”
A few minutes later, the 6-foot-4 Gudmundsson made another signature play. After having a shot blocked under the basket, he grabbed the ball and put it back up in a crowd, giving the Wildcats a 65-55 lead.
The margin would eventually grow to as many as 18 points as Davidson (16-14, 10-8 A-10) clinched the seventh seed in next week’s conference tournament in Brooklyn, N.Y.
It was a typical game for Gudmundsson, the 2018-19 A-10 player of the year as a junior, who will leave Davidson in the top 10 of many of the Wildcats’ career statistical categories. He scored 17 points, had six rebounds, two assists and three steals against VCU (18-13, 8-10).
Grady, a junior guard, continued his strong play down the stretch of the season, scoring 18 points, grabbing four rebounds and handing out three assists. Sophomore forward Luka Brajkovic had 12 points and led the Wildcats with seven rebounds. Freshman guard Hyunjung Lee added 10 points, making two-of-three 3-pointers.
The Wildcats trailed 53-51 with 12 minutes left when they went on a 23-2 tear to put the Rams away.
“Stops, simply put,” Grady said of how the roll got started. “We were really battling on the defense end. You get stops, it fuels your offense. That was the case tonight.”
It was an emotional night in Davidson’s gym as the Wildcats sent off their five seniors — Gudmundsson, Malcolm Wynter, Cal Freundlich, Pat Casey and KiShawn Pritchett.
Although Gundmundsson received the loudest ovation from the crowd during pregame ceremonies, it was almost matched by the one directed at Pritchett, a guard who has missed the season with a knee injury.
Knee problems have plagued Pritchett for much of his career at Davidson. After redshirting his freshman season because of the injury, he became a key player for McKillop over the next three years. But the injury flared up again this season and he wasn’t able to return.
“KiShawn Pritchett is one of the most unsung heroes our program has had,” McKillop said. “He nursed injuries and so few people knew the pain he was in for the time he put in to get back on the court. My heart breaks for the physical and emotional pain that experience put him through.
“Trying to get him back on the court, trying to fight through the adversity that put him in — he’s a courageous, courageous man.”