The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team disappointed the home crowd at A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh Thursday night, defeating host Duquesne in overtime, 100-97.
In one of the highest scoring games in Atlantic 10 play this season, fans saw a similar pattern to last year’s game start to occur. Last January, the Dukes’ Derrick Colter won the head-to-head matchup with a buzzer-beating shot from 25 feet out.
This time, Duquesne appeared to be in control with an 11-point lead on the Bonnies with just two minutes, 36 seconds left. But St. Bonaventure’s leading scorer, Marcus Posley, responded with three 3-pointers and a three-point play down the stretch to carry the Bonnies back into the game. The guard’s 3-pointer with just six seconds left in regulation tied the game at 90 apiece heading into overtime.
St. Bonaventure guard Jaylen Adams was the hero in the extra period, hitting a jump shot and three free throws to clinch the victory in the final 20 seconds.
Posley finished with a game-high 36 points to go along with a career-best eight 3-pointers made. Youssou Ndoye added 20 points and 15 rebounds while Adams contributed 15 points.
VCU survives scare vs. SLU
No. 16 Virginia Commonwealth pulled out a tight victory at Saint Louis Friday night, edging the Billikens 63-61 behind Treveon Graham’s coast-to-coast layup in the final second of play.
Friday’s matchup was a physical battle as the Rams (16-3, 6-0 A-10) and Saint Louis (9-10, 1-5 A-10) combined for 42 fouls. This physicality allowed redshirt junior Ash Yacoubou to hit a free throw for the Billikens with six seconds on the clock to tie the game 61-61.
With VCU gaining possession, Graham started the final play by tossing the ball to teammate Briante Weber, who quickly gave it back to Graham. The forward then charged the length of the court and made the last shot right before the buzzer.
St. Louis led the game 32-28 with just over three minutes left in the first half but Graham scored six consecutive points to put the Rams up 34-32. Milik Yarbrough then answered with a lay up leaving the score tied 34-34 by halftime.
Yarbrough and Austin McBroom challenged the Rams throughout the entire game. Yarbrough totaled 15 points and six rebounds while McBroom contributed nine points and six rebounds.
Graham led the way for VCU with 21 points, while Weber amassed 15 points to help contribute to the Rams’ 11-game winning streak.
VCU next hosts George Washington on Tuesday while Saint Louis travels to George Mason on Thursday.
Brittany Collens can be reached at [email protected].
