ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — It didn’t figure to be much of a game … and, of course, it wasn’t.
Still, it could have been a disaster for the St. Bonaventure basketball team. Instead it became the most-one-sided conference victory of its 42 seasons in the Atlantic 10/Eastern 8.
The Bonnies, locked in a critical race with Virginia Commonwealth for the No. 1 seed in next week’s Atlantic 10 Conference championships, were supposed to play George Washington in early January at the Reilly Center … until Covid-19 intervened.
That game was rescheduled for last night at a fan-less RC, but with plenty at stake.
The Bonnies, tied with VCU at 10-3 atop the A-10 standings, had just come off home-and-home victories over conference contender Davidson, in a span of three days. Now it was looking at hosting an Atlantic 10 enigma, Dayton, to end the regular season Monday night.
In between, though, was the storied “trap” or “donut” game — pick your adjective — against the Colonials, a team destined to play in the A-10’s first round, pitting the four lowest-seeded teams in the standings, on Wednesday in Richmond,
HOWEVER, the Bonnies (11-3, 13-3) were anything but complacent last night. They improved to 8-0 at home this season with an emphatic, record-setting 88-41 victory over the struggling Colonials (4-11, 3-5), who unmercifully ended their fractured campaign which included a five-week coronavirus-induced hiatus.
And, suddenly, as soon as this afternoon, St. Bonaventure could claim its first-ever outright conference title, a relationship that began in the 1979-80 season. If VCU (10-3) loses at Davidson (6-4) today (ESPNU-TV, 2 o’clock), the Bonnies clinch, no matter what happens Monday night at the RC against Dayton (8-7).
Bona had already claimed a bye into the conference quarterfinals and if it finishes as the A-10’s No. 1 seed, it will play Friday at 11 a.m. at either the Robbins (Richmond) or Siegel (VCU) Center against the winner of Thursday’s second-round game between the No. 8 and 9 seeds.
As it’s turned out, in this bizarre, jumbled-schedule season, the Bonnies weren’t penalized for losing 12 games (9 non-conference, 3 A-10) to the pandemic and, indeed, seem to be playing their very best basketball at the optimum time.
AFTERWARD, when asked about his team’s performance being the anthesis of looking past an opponent, coach Mark Schmidt pointed out, “We’ve got experienced guys, mature guys that understand how to win and what it takes to be successful. You can’t overlook anybody … you respect everybody and play as well as you can. They understand what’s at stake.
“Our guys were focused … (showing) physical and mental toughness. I was really proud of their effort and their mindset. Coming off two big wins, it could be a letdown, we only had one day to prepare, but our guys really responded. It wasn’t me in the huddle, it was (the players saying), ‘No letdown, no letdown.’”
And despite the Colonials’ abbreviated schedule, four of their losses were by five points or fewer.
“We knew GW had good players … they had beaten Rhode Island (by eight) and had a close game against George Mason (5-point road loss),” Schmidt said. “But our guys were in tune with what they needed to do. We can’t forget how we got here … we (did it) by defending (giving up a season-low in points) and rebounding (owning the boards 35-23).
“We had four games left and before the first Davidson game our goal was to be 1-0, the second game, 2-0, and today the most important two hours was from (6-8 p.m.) … we wanted to be 3-0 (at 8 o’clock). We did that, and all the credit goes to those guys, they couldn’t have played better.”
He also pointed out, “We’ve been focused all year, we can’t worry about anybody else, you’ve just got to take care of your business … if you (do) everything’s fine. We control our own destiny.”
Although this afternoon, Davidson has the first shot at clinching it.
(Chuck Pollock, a Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)
