DAYTON, Ohio — Kyle Lofton waited for the final buzzer, threw down an emphatic dunk and, hanging for an extra couple of seconds, kissed the rim.
Jaren Holmes sat on a table along the sideline and wept tears of joy.
Osun Osunniyi clutched the championship trophy to his chest, shouting out in triumph.
As this “almost surreal” sequence unfolded, Mark Schmidt sat alone on the bench, staring out at the celebration, watching the team that he built achieve the biggest of the goals it had set in the preseason.
At this moment, there was no need for words. The euphoric ring of St. Bonaventure fans lining the lower section, the cascading confetti and the loudest “Let’s Go Bona’s” chants in a year said it all:
The Bonnies are Atlantic 10 Tournament champions once again.
And Schmidt’s team, for the third time in nine years, is going dancing.
KYLE LOFTON outdid his star guard counterpart, scoring 23 points, including a 4-of-5 mark from 3-point range, and No. 1 Bona built up a second-half double-digit lead before downing second-seeded VCU, 74-65, in the A-10 title contest before 1,500 mostly brown-and-white clad fans Sunday inside Dayton Arena.
Bona won both the league’s regular season and tournament championship for the first time in program history. It captured its second tourney crown (alongside 2012) and automatic berth into the Big Dance. And in a year that was mired in uncertainty from start to finish, the Bonnies left no doubt.
“This group’s going to go down in history,” said a beaming Schmidt, whose team, a few hours later, was given a No. 9 seed and a first-round NCAA Tournament matchup with No. 8 LSU. “And for what they went through with this whole pandemic, it’s a special group. Not that the other groups aren’t special, but in the moment now, these guys … I hold them close to my heart. They endured a lot of things this year and were able to come through.
“It’s difficult to be the No. 1 seed going into the tournament. But our guys played like the No. 1 seed. They didn’t back down. I just can’t say enough … I’m just really grateful that I have the opportunity to coach these guys.”
BONA (16-4) opened 5-of-6 from 3-point range while eventually bringing a 32-25 lead into halftime. Behind Lofton, who tallied 17 of his 23 in the second half, it grew the advantage to 17 (53-36) with 11:20 remaining.
The Rams, who were forced to play the final 13:04 of the first half without A-10 Player of the Year Bones Hyland, who had picked up three fouls, made their run, drawing to within seven on multiple occasions down the stretch.
But Bona, much as it has all year — to a wiped out non-conference, to a myriad postponements and cancellations and to each of its four losses — responded.
Dominick Welch, who finished with 13 points, and Jalen Shaw each had putbacks to push seven-point leads back to nine. Holmes hit a runner in the lane with 2:25 remaining to make it 67-58. Welch provided the dagger with 1:12 left, rattling home an off-balanced 3 at the end of the shot clock to make it 72-60.
And in the end, Bona not only raised that trophy over its collective head, but did so in impressive fashion, destroying its first two A-10 foes (by 16 and 18, respectively) and leading the No. 2 seed by nearly 20 until the final minutes.
“We executed decently, but I thought we did a better job of getting to the offensive glass,” said Schmidt, citing those big putbacks. “Those are momentum breakers and we made timely baskets, and 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, even when (VCU) got it to seven. That’s how you win games. We’ve got an experienced team that’s been in those situations and that really helps.”
OSUNNIYI capped a splendid three-game run with 14 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks while being named A-10 Tournament MVP. Jalen Adaway and Lofton were also named to the All-Tournament Team, and each had significant individual stretches — with Adaway notching 10 points in the first 12 minutes to stake Bona to its initial lead and Lofton connecting on five-straight free throws (after being fouled on a 3 and a technical on VCU) to turn a 10-point edge into a 15-point cushion.
The latter was actually part of a seven-point possession and massive momentum swing for Bona.
From there, it merely had to hold on before beginning its celebration.
“The smiles on our guys’ faces, that’s what you coach for, those types of experiences,” Schmidt said. “Those are the memories that last a lifetime, when you see those big smiles and how proud and satisfied the players are because they put everything into it.
“For them, this is a dream come true. This is when you’re playing in the backyard or playing down at the playground; this is what you dream of.”
ON THE biggest stage to date, it was quintessential Bona.
Schmidt’s team made a star player look rather ordinary; Hyland finished with 21 points, but half of those came at the free throw line and he shot just 4-of-11 from the field. After being outrebounded in both regular season contests against the Rams, Bona won that battle Sunday, 42-32. It took care of the ball for the most part (10 turnovers) and, as Schmidt wanted, did an admirable job controlling tempo.
And with that, it won the rubber match and bragging rights over VCU and avenged its Atlantic 10 championship game loss to Saint Louis from 2019, when much of its core were freshmen.
“Two years ago, four of our guys couldn’t finish,” Schmidt acknowledged. “We didn’t finish that game and we lost, and a lot of times, you don’t get a second chance in life, but we got a second chance and those guys finished.”
“It’s been amazing,” Lofton said of the team’s run to an A-10 title. “As we (ran back out) we just heard the ‘Let’s go Bona’s’ chants and it just gave me flashbacks to us being at the Reilly Center.
“Going to Indianapolis, to the NCAA Tournament, it’s like a dream come true for us. Since kids, we’ve been working for that. And now we can finally live the dream. It’s amazing.”
