Box Score (PDF)   |   Final Stats and Play-by-Play

St. Bonaventure Starters: #3 Marcus Posley, #10 G Jaylen Adams, #21 F Dion Wright, #23 G Andell Cumberbatch, #35 C Youssou Ndoye

The Short Story: St. Bonaventure upset #18 VCU Saturday afternoon in the Reilly Center, defeating the Rams 73-71 when Marcus Posley scored on an off-balance drive just before the final horn sounded.

The Rams had tied the game on a jumper by Jordan Burgess with 17 seconds left, setting the stage for a final shot by the Bonnies. 

St. Bonaventure led from start to finish and went ahead by 10 points early in the second half. Still, it took Posley's heroics to secure the Bonnies' third straight win over a ranked opponent (the other two came last season).

It was Posley's second buzzer-beating game-winner in as many games; Wednesday he led the Bonnies to a 62-61 win at Davidson.

Led by freshman guard Jaylen Adams, St. Bonaventure handled the notorious VCU "Havoc" defense extremely well, finishing with just nine turnovers on the day. Adams had seven assists and only two turnovers and scored nine points.

Junior forward Dion Wright had one of the best games of his career, leading the Bonnies with 19 points and eight rebounds. Posley finished with 15 points and Youssou Ndoye had 13. Sophomore forward Denzel Gregg scored a career high 10 points off the Bonnies' bench.

How It Happened:

• Playing in front of the largest Reilly Center crowd so far this season (5,135), St. Bonaventure opened strong. Andell Cumberbatch started the game with a deep three-pointer for the Bonnies.
• Cumberbatch grabbed an offensive board and put back layup to push the Bonnies ahead 11-4 with 14:45 left in the half.
• VCU responded, closing the gap to 13-11.
• Marcus Posley then knocked down a three to give Bonaventure more breathing room at 16-11 with 12:26 left in the first half.
• The teams exchanged baskets over the next few minutes, with Bonaventure holding onto a 20-16 edge with 7:57 left in the half.
• The teams continued to battle at a high pace. Youssou Ndoye drew an and-1 layup to keep the Bonnies ahead at 30-25 with 2:31 remaining before the break.
• VCU closed the gap to 32-31 at halftime.
• Jay Adams hit a jump shot to kick off the second half scoring.
• After Burgess tied the game at 34-34, St. Bonaventure went on a 13-3 run over a span of only 2:26 to open a 47-37 lead with 16:33 remaining. The 10-point advantage was the Bonnies' largest of the game.
• The 13-3 run was keyed by Ndoye and Dion Wright, who had four points and three points, respectively, in the spurt.  
• Adams and Posley then capped the run and electrified the crowd with back-to-back three-pointers just 20 seconds apart.
• VCU cut the lead to three points at 49-46 with 11:38 left, but the Bonnies responded quickly and went back up 53-46 with 10:55 remaining.
• Denzel Gregg slammed home a reverse ally-oop dunk with 9:51 remaining that made it 57-50 Bonnies.
• St. Bonaventure led by nine, 59-50, after a jumper by Wright, but the Rams scored nine of the next 11 points to tighten the game at 61-59 with 7:21 remaining.
• Ndoye's layup ended the VCU run and made it 63-59 with 6:27 left.
• VCU pulled within one at 67-66 on JeQuan Lewis' three-pointer at the 4:37 mark.
• St. Bonaventure was able to hold VCU off, and Wright's layup with 1:56 remaining made the score 71-67.
• Lewis was fouled by Posley and made two free throws with 51 seconds left that pulled the Rams within two at 71-69.
• After an Ndoye miss, VCU tied the game on a short jumper by Burgess with only 17 seconds left after he drove the lane and Ndoye attempted to draw a charging foul.
• That set the stage for Posley, who waited until the clock wound down and then drove the right side of the lane against multiple VCU defenders and still scored.

Quotes from Coach Mark Schmidt

 "I told the guys after the Davidson game I don't know if it could get better, but today it got better. It's always great to beat a team of that caliber in the Reilly Center … we haven't played as well as we could have at home, especially in the last couple of games, but I thought our guys really responded. Having less than 48 hours to prepare for VCU, I thought it spoke volumes about our guys and their work ethic, as well as their mentality and character. We didn't play perfect basketball today but we executed when we needed to."

"Anytime VCU made a run we responded.  We handled the (VCU) pressure really well. One of the keys to winning was to keep our turnovers below 12 and we handled it very well. (Jay Adams) having seven assists and two turnovers against that pressure says a lot about his game. Overall, 17 assists and nine turnovers … I would take that against any team in the Atlantic 10. I just think from a team perspective we shared the ball, and we attacked (VCU's press) with some intelligence."

"I thought Denzel Gregg had a big impact on this game, Marcus (Posley) hit the big shot, but Denzel played a big part. When you want to win in the Atlantic 10 you need those role guys coming off the bench. Everybody's going to have their day in the sun, but I thought Denzel did a really good job coming off the bench and being productive."

 "That's why this league is so good … on any given night, if you don't play your best, you're going to lose and we've told these guys from day one.  It's a special league with some special players and it's competitive.

"When you give everything you've got and you come out on top, there's not a better feeling in the world."

Beyond The Boxscore

• St. Bonaventure has now won three straight games against ranked opponents (two straight at home), after losing its previous 24. Last year, the Bonnies defeated #21/19 UMass 78-65 at home, as well as #19/20 St. Louis 71-68 in the quarterfinal round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
• VCU only managed to force nine turnovers, their lowest total of the season.
• Denzel Gregg scored his career high 10 points in just 17 minutes of action; his previous career high was nine. ​
• Marcus Posley has now scored in double figures in 16 of 20 games this year.
• VCU played without starters Treveon Graham (16.2 ppg), and Briante Weber (8.1 ppg, 4.3 apg). Both were out due to injury; Weber is out for the season while Graham has an ankle injury.

Up Next: St. Bonaventure will remain at home to host Massachusetts on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m.  The game will air on Time Warner SportsChannel.