CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — The St. Bonaventure Bonnies (23-9, 12-5 Atlantic 10) scored five points in the final 30 seconds and Osun Osunniyi made a game winning block to send the Bonnies to the NIT semifinal round in a 52-51 win over the Virginia Cavaliers (21-14, 12-8 ACC).
After a slow and cold half for both teams, Jayden Garden came into the second half and scored eight points for the Cavaliers. That sparked a 15-4 run to give Virginia an early 32-27 lead.
However, the Bonnies fought back with a 12-4 run to take a 45-42 lead over Virginia with 4:37 left in the game.
That’s when Armaan Franklin took over with back-to-back 3-pointers. Reece Beekman also made a layup to give Virginia a five-point lead.
The Bonnies made a final effort with two free throws from Jaren Holmes and an acrobatic 3-pointer from Dominick Welch.
Kyle Lofton was then fouled on a layup drive and made both free throws to give SBU a 52-51 lead.
The game was sealed with a game winning block from Osunniyi to send the Bonnies to the NIT semifinals.
Welch had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Osunniyi and Holmes also followed with 10 points.
Cold Half For Both Teams
The Bonnies and the Cavaliers were cold throughout the whole first half.
SBU shot 10-of-30 (33.3%) from the field and 0-of-7 from deep. Meanwhile, Virginia shot 7-of-25 (28.0%) from the field and 2-of-11(18.2%) from behind the arc.
Both teams went on long stretches where they couldn’t score. The longest stretch that they went without scoring lasted for 2:03. That stretch ended with a layup from Osunniyi to take a 14-13 lead with 4:50 left in the first half.
Virginia really struggled to find a groove as they only scored six points in the final 14:16 of the first half.
Both teams’ defenses were decent but both offenses couldn’t get a bucket. Despite this, SBU entered halftime with a 21-17 lead over Virginia.
Tough Loss For Virginia
Despite the loss, Virginia was spectacular in the second half.
The Cavaliers shot 13-of-28 (46.4%) from the field in the second half and nearly pulled away with the win. Virginia finished this game shooting 20-of-53 (37.7%) from the field and 5-of-19 (26.3%) from deep.
Armaan Franklin was the Cavaliers leading scorer with 17 points and six rebounds. Jayden Gardener followed with 14 points and five rebounds, while shooting 7-of-15 (46.7%) from the field.
 scored five points in the final 30 seconds and Osun Osunniyi made a game winning block to send the Bonnies to the NIT semifinal round in a 52-51 win over the Virginia Cavaliers (21-14, 12-8 ACC).){kind=link}