Saint Louis rallies to edge St. Bonaventure for Atlantic 10 crown
Fred Thatch Jr. #20 of the Saint Louis Billikens celebrates his team's 55-53 win against the St. Bonaventure Bonnies during their Atlantic 10 basketball tournament championship game at Barclays Center on March 17, 2019, in New York City. Credit: Getty Images/Al Bello
Tramaine Isabell Jr. stood amid the red, white and blue confetti littering the Barclays Center court, feeling so happy. The Saint Louis guard gripped his most outstanding player and all-tournament team trophies. The Atlantic 10 championship trophy was nearby. The threads from a net were soon to be cut.
But a short time earlier, the final seconds of Sunday's title game were dribbling down and St. Bonaventure was taking shot after shot at ripping away Saint Louis’ NCAA tournament ticket. The Billikens’ two-point edge hung by threads. How was Isabell feeling?
“Scared,” the graduate transfer said. “My heart dropped.”
But sixth-seeded Saint Louis hung on to beat fourth-seeded St. Bonaventure, 55-53, claiming the automatic bid after emerging from a 15-point first-half hole and after the Bonnies missed two threes and a layup in the final 31 seconds.
“The basketball gods were on our side,” Isabell said after the Billikens (23-12) won four times in four days.
Jordan Goodwin scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help the program earn its first NCAA berth under third-year coach Travis Ford and its first A-10 tournament title since 2013. Saint Louis received the 13th seed in the East Region and will face fourth-seeded Virginia Tech Friday in San Jose.
“I’m happy for these kids,” Ford said. “…My wife says I take losing too hard and don’t enjoy winning enough, but I enjoy the process that goes through to building a program.”
LaDarien Griffin #15 of the St. Bonaventure Bonnies is dejected after losin 55-53 against the Saint Louis Billikensduring their Atlantic 10 basketball tournament championship game at Barclays Center on March 17, 2019, in New York City. Credit: Getty Images/Al Bello
The Billikens took a 47-46 advantage on a reverse layup by Hasahn French with 6:58 left for their first lead since 2-0. That layup was during a 12-0 burst, good for a 54-46 lead. But St. Bonaventure, an 18-16 team that started three freshmen, didn't back down.
Courtney Stockard, who led the Bonnies with 22, hit his sixth three to cut it to 55-53 with 56 seconds left. But he fouled out less than a second later. Javon Bess, however, missed on a one-and-one.
Dominick Welch missed a three with 31 seconds to go, but he grabbed the rebound. Kyle Lofton drove the baseline and couldn’t convert with 16 seconds left. The ball went out off Saint Louis. Then Nelson Kaputo missed an open three with three seconds left. The Bonnies scored only 19 points after the intermission. “They’re a very good halfcourt defensive team,” coach Mark Schmidt said. “…We couldn’t score.”
St. Bonaventure built a 34-19 cushion. But the Billikens, who missed their first 11 shots, cut it to 34-25 by halftime and kept chipping away.
“We’re not satisfied with just making the tournament,” Isabell said after contributing nine points and five assists and averaging 17.3 points over the four games. “Obviously, it’s a huge feat, but back to the drawing board.”
