St. Bonaventure claims first A-10 tournament championship since 2012

St. Bonaventure players celebrated by jumping on press row in front of their fans, who crowded the rows closest to the court. Others danced in the confetti or lay down on the court to soak it up as best they could.

“This group is going to go down in history,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said. “No St. Bonaventure team had won the regular-season title and Atlantic 10 tournament title in the same year. With what they went through with the pandemic, it’s a special group.”

The championship came 13 days after St. Bonaventure lost 55-52 at home to the Dayton Flyers in the final game of the regular season. The Bonnies (16-4) beat Duquesne and Saint Louis in their first two A-10 tournament games in Richmond, Va., and then waited eight days to play VCU (19-7), which beat Dayton and Davidson to advance.

The teams played in front of 1,500 fans. It was the largest crowd to see a college basketball game at UD Arena this season. Dayton had fewer than 300 fans at home games because of Ohio Department of Health restrictions during the pandemic. The attendance limit was raised after Dayton played its final home game Feb. 26.

“The Atlantic 10 and Dayton did a terrific job with the tournament under these adverse conditions,” Schmidt said. “The Dayton fans who came to the game supported us. It was much appreciated. We didn’t have the crowd we had in 2018 when we played UCLA (in the First Four), but there were some Dayton fans who really supported us.”

The Bonnies claimed the A-10′s automatic NCAA tournament bid and will head to Indianapolis for the Big Dance, which starts Thursday with the First Four. VCU also expects to hear its name called on the Selection Show on Sunday night.

“(St. Bonaventure) played a great game,” VCU coach Mike Rhoades said. “They played a championship-level game. They were the best team in the league this year, and they showed it today.”

St. Bonaventure took the lead midway through the first half and didn’t relinquish it. It led 32-25 at halftime and scored the first four points of the second half to push its lead to double digits. The Bonnies led by as many as 17 points. VCU got no closer than seven points in the final minutes.

“We made timely baskets,” Schmidt said. “That’s what you need to do to win a game of this magnitude. Our guys were under control. They were poised. They didn’t overreact when they cut the lead to seven. That’s how you win games. We’ve got an experienced group that’s been in those situations. That really helps.”

Osun Ossunyi had 14 points and 12 rebounds and was named the most outstanding player of the tournament. Kyle Lofton led the Bonnies with 23 points.

VCU fell to 1-5 in A-10 championship games since entering the league in the 2012-13 season. Bones Hyland led VCU with 21 points. He was limited to seven minutes in the first half after picking up three early fouls.

St. Bonaventure won in part by beating VCU on the boards 42-32 and committing only 10 turnovers. In its previous game against VCU, the Bonnies committed 15 turnovers and gave up 19 offensive rebounds in a 67-64 loss Feb. 12.

“We didn’t change what got us here,” Schmidt said. “We defended, we rebounded and we took care of the basketball against a very talented team that’s so well coached. If you don’t take care of the basketball, they’re going to get out in the fast break, and their fast break is lethal when they get numbers.”