WASHINGTON, D.C. — Life on the road covering the Dayton Flyers has given me plenty of content for stories on top of the actual games. This season alone, there was the leaky roof at Fordham’s Rose Hill Gym, the pulled fire alarm at Rhode Island’s Ryan Center and a broken net at Loyola Chicago’s Gentile Center.

On Wednesday night, Day 1 at the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament included a power outage at Tortino Restaurant, where I met up with a number of other people from around the conference, mostly radio broadcasters and communications staff members. We were about to be served dinner when the entire restaurant went dark. The blackout hit the neighborhood surrounding the place as well.

Somehow the dining experience continued. When most of the restaurant cleared, they moved our larger group to another room that had emergency lighting. We used our cell phone flashlights for the restroom.

The power returned right after we left Tortino. For the sake of the A-10 tournament, I hope the lights stay on at Capital One Arena on Thursday.

I just arrived at the arena in time for the first second-round game of the game: No. 8 seed St. Bonaventure vs. No. 9 Duquesne. The Bonnies won the last game 70-63 on Feb. 22. The Dukes won the previous five games in the series, including the first matchup this season, 75-57 on Jan. 18. St. Bonaventure is 4-3 against Duquesne in the A-10 tournament.

The winner plays No. 1 seed Virginia Commonwealth in the quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m. Friday.

Three other games follow today.

• No. 5 Saint Louis vs. No. 12 Davidson, 2 p.m.: Saint Louis won 57-56 at Davidson on Feb. 25. Davidson leads the series 9-5 and has a 2-1 edge in A-10 tournament games.

• No. 7 George Washington vs. No. 15 Fordham, 5 p.m. George Washington won 81-58 at Fordham on March 5, ending a three-game losing streak in the series. George Washington is 3-1 against Fordham in the A-10 tournament.

• No. 6 Saint Joseph’s vs. No. 14 La Salle, 7:30 p.m.: These teams will play for the fourth time in one season for the first time. Saint Joseph’s beat La Salle 82-68 on a neutral court in the Big 5 Classic on Dec. 7 and then won 75-63 at Hagan Arena on Feb. 12. In the last matchup on March 8, La Salle won 81-74 at John E. Glaser Arena, which was formerly known as Tom Gola Arena.

Saint Joseph’s is 9-5 against La Salle in the A-10 tournament.

Dayton will play the winner of this game at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

1:43 p.m.

I’m staying in an AirBnB near Dupont Circle on Connecticut Avenue the first two nights here in D.C. before moving to a hotel closer to the arena on Friday night. In the summer of 1999, I had an apartment one subway stop north of where I’m staying. I lived there while I interned at the Scripps Howard News Service.

I had one assignment that summer at the White House. I covered the U.S. women’s soccer team’s visit after it won the World Cup. Bill Clinton and Al Gore both spoke at the ceremony on the South Lawn.

I passed a sign near Capital One Arena on Wednesday that read, “White House” and “Capital One Arena.” On X, I joked that there are no two more important places in the world this week. Big decisions will be made all week at both buildings.

St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt made the right decisions in the first game today. The Bonnies (22-10) rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat Duquesne 64-59.

St. Bonaventure will play in the quarterfinals for the 10th time in the last 11 tournaments.

Duquesne, the defending A-10 tournament championship, failed to reach the quarterfinals for the seventh time in nine tournaments. Its loss means there will not be a repeat champion. Temple won three straight A-10 tournament titles from 2008-10. No team has repeated as champion since then.

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

8:07 p.m.

Crammed into a crowded Red Line train yesterday, I spotted two Dayton fans in the throng of people: Jeff and Leslie Gonya. They were headed north on the train, like me. We couldn’t move but managed to have a short conversation. I told them I’d see them after the trophy ceremony on Sunday.

We’re still a long way from the championship game, but we are halfway through the 14 games. The top seeds have all advanced so far in the second round.

• No. 5 seed Saint Louis beat No. 12 Davidson 73-75 in the second game of the day. Sixth-year Billikens guard Gibson Jimerson stayed hot, making 5 of 11 3-pointers and scoring 25 points. He has made 26 3s in the last four games.

Saint Louis trailed 60-58 with five minutes remaining and outscored Davidson 25-15 the rest of the way.

“At this point, you’re just trying to play well enough to earn another chance to play,” Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz said. “You want to keep playing one more day. Took on a really good team. Proud of our guys for finding a way through the competition. Now we’ve got to turn around and do it again tomorrow against another really good team.”

Saint Louis plays No. 4 seed Loyola Chicago at 2 p.m. Friday. The teams split two games in the regular season.

• No. 7 George Washington beat No. 15 Fordham 88-81 in the third game. The Revolutionaries will play in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2017. They lost in the first or second round in the last seven tournaments.

George Washington plays No. 2 George Mason at 5 p.m. Friday. George Mason beat GW twice in the regular season by a total of six points.