WASHINGTON, D.C. – At the end of a back-and-forth battle between two of the Atlantic 10's top squads, Saint Louis would be left standing with a 57-56 victory Friday afternoon in the conference quarterfinals at Capital One Arena.
St. Bonaventure (20-9) rallied from 10 points down with 11 minutes left, grabbing the lead on a bucket in the lane from Osun Osunniyi with 1:24 to play.
In a game where defense prevailed, both teams had chances in the final minute, but it was finally a jumper from Gibson Jimerson with 17 seconds that proved to be the game-winner.
As the seconds went to zero, a runner in the lane for the lead by the Bonnies fell short, kicking an offensive rebound to Bona and allowing for a pair of free throws with just 1.8 seconds showing on the clock as the Billikens were whistled for a foul.
Unfortunately for the Bonnies, both free throw efforts failed, leaving the defending A-10 champions shell-shocked as the final buzzer sounded.
Jalen Adaway produced another star-worthy effort of 18 points, leading the Brown and White on a day where offense proved hard to come by.
There appeared to be a lid on the basket for much of the early going – for both teams.
The Bonnies opened 1-for-12 from the floor with just two points over the opening seven minutes, but remained in the game thanks to a defensive effort that kept the game at a 6-2 score during that span.
Bona moved ahead, but a 12-2 run from the Billikens allowed Saint Louis to take a 26-22 lead to intermission.
SLU scored the first bucket out of the break, but Kyle Lofton then sparked an 8-0 run from Bona to retake the lead, 30-28, three and a half minutes into the second half.
After a quick back-and-forth, the Billikens regained momentum as they surged ahead with six straight successful field goal tries, capped by a Jimerson trey for a 47-37 cushion with 11 minutes left.
Adaway would spark the Bonnies' comeback, draining a pair of threes to close within 49-48 as SLU went scoreless for over four minutes as the clock ticked down toward five minutes remaining.
Down four with four to play, a pull-up three from Dominick Welch brought the Bonnies within a point. Osunniyi put Bona's ahead, 53-52, with 2:02 left as the stage was set for the last two minutes.
Jimerson led all scorers with 20 points for the Billikens who advance to play top-seeded Davidson in Saturday's semifinals.
GAME NOTES
- The Bonnies now await word on any potential postseason bid Sunday night.
- Welch posted 14 points and seven rebounds while Lofton finished with 10 points and four assists.
- Bona forced 17 Billikens turnovers, but could turn those into only 14 points. The Billikens led on the boards, 40-31, and registered 15 second chance points.
