BROOKLYN-To say that last night’s 90-86 loss to Davidson was heartbreaking for St. Bonaventure would be an understatement. The Bonnies led by as many 12 in the second half of the quarterfinal and appeared to be cruising to the semis, but a valiant comeback by the Wildcats was too much too late. Brian Sullivan hit a deep three and Peyton Aldridge hit all three of his free throws to send the game to overtime. Bona’s Marcus Posley and Dion Wright both scored 32 points on the night, marking one of the best combined performances from the duo on the season.
Entering the day. St. Bonaventure was listed as one of ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi’s “Last Four Byes” for teams making the NCAA tournament. This means they would not only make the Big Dance, but avoid playing in the First Four in Dayton. Obviously this bye would be huge; it would mean playing one less game, making their path deep into the tournament much less difficult. But after Friday, where does this team stand?
According to Lunardi, in nearly the exact same place. This morning, he still had the Bonnies listed among the “Last Four Byes”, a very optimistic look for a team that lost in their conference quarters. He also has them facing off against Seton Hall in Brooklyn. This is huge because we saw how Bonnies fans showed last night here at the Barclays; their fan section was by far the loudest of any A-10 school yet. If St. Bona gets a game here again, it would almost be like having homecourt advantage.
We still have to see how the bubble shakes out among the rest of the teams in the nation. If you’re a Bonnies fan, you want losses today from Michigan, Georgia and LSU. You also have to be wary of fellow A-10 team, Davidson, who is now listed in the “Next Four Out” category. If the Wildcats beat VCU today, it could set off a big domino effect for the rest of the nation, potentially pushing the Rams back to the “Last Four Byes” quartet.
We have a lot of basketball to watch today, and we’ll keep you updated on scores and bracket updates as they flow in. We’re loving March, and you should be too.
