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 St. Bonaventure Captures First A-10 Championship Title Since 2012 (Photo: Atl10)
St. Bonaventure Captures First A-10 Championship Title Since 2012 - Mar 15, 2021 
St. Bonaventure has not had the opportunity to play in front of fans this season, but Sunday afternoon at Dayton's UD Arena, after securing a 74-65 victory to earn its second-ever Atlantic 10 Championship title, the players acknowledge those who made the trip from Olean.'As soon as you ran out on the court, you heard 'let's go Bonas',' St. Bonaventure guard Kyle Lofton (6'3''-G) said. 'It just gave me flashbacks to us being at the Reilly Center. Going to Indianapolis and the NCAA Tournament is a dream-come true. Since kids we've been working for that and we can finally live the dream.' Indeed St. Bonaventure's win is its second conference title, with the first occurring in 2012. It also is the first time the Bonnies were both Atlantic 10 regular and conference-championship champions. This is also the fifth time that the top seed in the A-10 Championship went the distance and won a title, with Saint Louis, the last to accomplish this in 2013. Lofton, an All-Championship Team selection, led all scorers with his 23 points and also added six assists, while converting all seven of his free-throw attempts. Lofton scored 17 of his points in the second half. 'He's everything, he's the quarterback,' St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said. 'He handles the pressure, gets us in our sets, he guards the best guy. He is invaluable. Great IQ, competitor, he's our leader. Without Kyle on the court, we struggle. He's a special player, a special kid and I'm lucky and glad he's on our team.' Most Outstanding Player Osun Osunniyi (6'10''-F/C) earned his fifth double-double of the season with his 14-point, 12-rebound performance. Dominick Welch (6'5''-G) scored 13 points and All-Championship Team member Jalen Adaway contributed 10 points. 'I'm really proud of our team, the players and my staff,' said Schmidt. 'We didn't change what got us there, we defended, rebounded and took care of the basket. Against a VCU twam so talented, they'll get out on the break and when they get on the break, they are lethal. We did a good job outrebounding them by 10 and made the plays when we needed to. I'm proud to win the regular season and tournament for the first time in school history. I am so proud of our players and so thankful. Now we move onto Indianapolis and see what happens.' As a team, St. Bonaventure outrebounded VCU 42-32. VCU saw All-Championship Team honoree Nah'Shon 'Bones' Hyland score all 21 of his points in the second half after picking up three fouls in the first seven minutes of Sunday afternoon's contest. Vincent Williams Jr. (6'6''-G/F-00) pieced together 12 points and nine rebounds, while Josh Banks earned 10 points and was a big reason why VCU's bench outscored St. Bonaventure 18-5. 'Hats off and congratulations to St. Bonaventure,' VCU coach Mike Rhoades said. 'They played a great game, a championship-level game. They were the best team in the league this year and they showed it today. We fought today and we competed but we really fought the game. We got at times really emotional and it really hurt us with our shot selection and missing defensive assignments. We allowed adversity to affect us multiple possessions. For most of the game, St. Bonaventure was in control because of how they responded to thinks. We have to learn from it. I love this team, I love how far we've come and this hurt, but it needs to hurt for us to take the next step.' Though VCU scored the first four points in the contest, an Adaway three-point basket place St. Bonaventure back in front. It would not trail for the remainder of the afternoon. The basket was Adaway's second from deep and helped the Bonnies convert five of its first six three-point shot attempts. It took 6:55 of game action for Hyland to pick up three fouls and he sat for the remainder of the first half. "We've played with Bones out before,' said Rhoades. 'In this game, and then out that long because of fouls, it affects you. It affected us too much, to be honest with you.' Without Hyland, the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, Banks led VCU's efforts, though the Rams trailed by seven points at halftime. Midway through the second half, St. Bonaventure went on a 12-2 run. Lofton made a three-pointer, one of four on the game and following another attempt, both Welch and VCU's Hason Ward were assessed technical fouls. VCU made its two free throws, then Lofton made all five of his, with two coming for the infraction and three coming from the previously mentioned three-point attempt. This sequence of events placed the Bonnies in front by 17 points. Though VCU cut the contest to seven points, went on a 7-2 run over 1:05 towards the end of regulation to secure the championship. 'It's bittersweet,' Schmidt said. 'I'm really proud of our guys and it's a little bit surreal. When (President) Dr. (Dennis) DePerro passed, this season was in his honor. When we cut those nets down, one of those is going to his family. He's done so much in a short period of time for Bonaventure, athletics, men's basketball in particular. That one was for him and hopefully that helps a little bit with their family.' Courtesy of atlantic10.com Atlantic 10 Tournament Final: St. Bonaventure - VCU 74-65 Atlantic 10 Tournament Semifinals: St. Bonaventure - Saint Louis 71-53 VCU - Davidson 64-52 All-Atlantic 10 Awards 2021 - Mar 15, 2021
All-Tournament MVP: Osun Osunniyi (6'10''-F/C) of St. Bonaventure Player of the Year: Nah'Shon Hyland (6'3''-G-00) of VCU Defensive Player of the Year: Osun Osunniyi (6'10''-F/C) of St. Bonaventure Rookie of the Year: Tyler Kolek (6'3''-G-01) of George Mason Most Improved Player of the Year: Tyler Burton (6'7''-F-00) of Richmond Sixth Man of the Year: Sherif Kenney (6'4''-G) of La Salle Coach of the Year: Mark Schmidt of St. Bonaventure
1st Team Kellan Grady (6'5''-G-97) of Davidson Jalen Crutcher (6'1''-G-99) of Dayton Tre Mitchell (6'9''-C) of Massachusetts Kyle Lofton (6'3''-G) of St. Bonaventure Jordan Goodwin (6'3''-G-98) of Saint Louis Nah'Shon Hyland (6'3''-G-00) of VCU
2nd Team Marcus Weathers (6'5''-F-97) of Duquesne Blake Francis (6'0''-PG-98) of Richmond Jacob Gilyard (5'9''-PG-98) of Richmond Jaren Holmes (6'4''-F/G) of St. Bonaventure Osun Osunniyi (6'10''-F/C) of St. Bonaventure Javonte Perkins (6'6''-G/F) of Saint Louis
3rd Team Ibi Watson (6'5''-G-98) of Dayton Jordan Miller (6'6''-G-00) of George Mason Jamison Battle (6'7''-F) of George Washington Fatts Russell (5'11''-PG-98) of Rhode Island Grant Golden (6'10''-F-98) of Richmond Vincent Williams Jr. (6'6''-G/F-00) of VCU
All-Defensive Team A.J. Wilson (6'7''-F-97) of George Mason Jacob Gilyard (5'9''-PG-98) of Richmond Osun Osunniyi (6'10''-F/C) of St. Bonaventure Jordan Goodwin (6'3''-G-98) of Saint Louis Hason Ward (6'9''-F) of VCU
All-Rookie Team Mustapha Amzil (6'8''-PF-01) of Dayton Tyler Kolek (6'3''-G-01) of George Mason Jhamir Brickus (5'11''-PG) of La Salle Jordan Hall (6'8''-G/F) of Saint Joseph Ace Baldwin Jr. (6'0''-PG) of VCU
All-Academic Team Jordy Tshimanga (6'11''-C-96) of Dayton Christian Ray (6'6''-G) of La Salle Tre Mitchell (6'9''-C) of Massachusetts Jaren Holmes (6'4''-F/G) of St. Bonaventure Gibson Jimerson (6'5''-G) of Saint Louis
All-Tournament Team Kellan Grady (6'5''-G-97) of Davidson Nah'Shon Hyland (6'3''-G-00) of VCU Kyle Lofton (6'3''-G) of St. Bonaventure Osun Osunniyi (6'10''-F/C) of St. Bonaventure Jalen Adaway (6'5''-G-98) of St. Bonaventure | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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