LAFAYETTE HILL, Pa. – St. Bonaventure battled Rhode Island to the wire before falling in a heartbreaker Tuesday at the Drexel Match Play Invitational. The Bonnies and Rams tied, 2-2-1, through five matches before Rhody captured a sudden death playoff hole for the victory.

The Rams were seeded second and the Bonnies third based on the results of 36 holes of stroke play Monday.

St. Bonaventure led, 2-1-2, as the final two matches went to the last two holes.

The Bonnies already had a team point on the board via a forfeit before the match even began.

Jude Cummings won his match over Seb Carlsson, 2-up, leading from the first hole on. He won each of the first four holes to build a commanding lead. Carlsson pulled within one after 12, though, and tied things up on the 13^th. Cummings took the lead back with a birdie on the par-4 14^th and capped his win with another bird on the par-4 17^th.

Peter Byrne fought back to halve his match with Owen Rooney for another half point. Rooney led by four through 12 holes, but Byrne won the 14^th, 16^th and 17^th holes and also captured the 18^th for the tie following a dramatic rally.

That left things to be decided between two matches that went to the final hole.

Lance Sininger also battled back from two down with four to play as he fought Bryson Richards, Monday's medalist, with par on the 15^th against a bogey from Richards and repeated that feat on the 17^th for the tie. On the last, however, a bogey from Sininger paired with a par by Richards handed the point to the Rams.

Michael Bucko, who shot 67 in the final round Monday, was tied with Josiah Tong heading for the 18^th tee, needing to halve the hole to score a Bonaventure win overall. Tong was able to sink a clutch birdie, though, while Bucko made par to allow Tong to capture the win.

That sent things to a sudden death playoff where Richards defeated Bucko on the first hole to give the Rams the win in a thriller.  

St. Bonaventure is back in action this weekend as the Bonnies play in the Rutherford Invitational hosted by Penn State in State College, Pa.

------
For the latest news on St. Bonaventure athletics, stay connected on social media. Follow the Bonnies on X @GoBonnies and get golf updates @BonniesGolf. Keep up with the Bonnies on Facebook /GoBonnies and on Instagram @GoBonnies. Bonnies Golf can be found on Instagram @BonniesMGolf.