A 2022 win in Charlottesville puts the Bonnies in the NIT semifinals for the first time in 45 years.
Bona guard Kyle Lofton scored nine points and added five assists and three steals in the win. His two free throws with 1.8 seconds left were among the most memorable of his Bona career.
[Photo credit: Photo credit: St. Bonaventure University Athletics]
With excitement mixed with anger.
After wins over the University of Colorado and the University of Oklahoma in the first two rounds of the 2022 NIT, Bona fans looked forward to a home game at the Reilly Center.
The RC never materialized, but the game that followed at the University of Virginia (UVA) was very memorable for Chris LaPlaca, a ’79 Bona graduate and senior vice president of corporate communications at ESPN at the time. Covered the 1977 NIT championship run as a student reporter Bona VentureAnd, during a 43-year career at ESPN, watched a handful of college basketball games.
However, he never saw the Bonnies play the Virginia Cavaliers. No one has. The two teams have never met before.
Entering the NIT at 19-13, Virginia has not dominated its first two games, winning 60-57 against Mississippi State in the first round and then surviving a 71-69 overtime loss at North Texas State.
LaPlaca was confident when he walked into John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville for the first time. “Why can’t we win this? We beat two Power 5 schools on the road and we shouldn’t be here,” he thought as he sat behind the bench.
As expected, the first half was a defensive battle. “Points were hard to come by,” LaPlaca recalls.
The Bonnies went 0-for-7 from the three-point line and shot just 33 percent from the field. They made their only free throw attempt and despite it all they went to the locker room down 21-17.
LaPlaca described the second half as “back and forth and back and forth.”
Virginia led 50-45 with 2:39 remaining in regulation. The deficit was four points with 30 seconds remaining. On a controversial play, Bona guard Dominique Welch hit a double-clutch nine seconds later to bring the Bonnies within 51-50.
“It wasn’t an open three, I remember,” LaPlaca said. “I remember this time [thinking]’It’s not the best shot we’re going to get.'” His reaction when the shot went in? “Stunned.”
UVA missed a 1-and-1 free throw. The Bonnies rebounded and, in the ensuing timeout, Kyle Lofton drove to the rim and was fouled.
With 1.8 seconds left, the guard hit both free throws to give the Ponies a 52-51 lead.
However, the game is not completely over. Bona center Osun Osunni blocked a UVA shot to seal a trip to Madison Square Garden for the NIT semifinals. Block #301 in his career.
“I read it, blocked it, game over,” Osunni said after the game Olean Times Herald.
LaPlaca had a similar memory. “I remember this very clearly. [Virginia guard] Kihei Clark drove the route. He had no shot. Osun moved that thing into the fifth row and the game was over,” he said. “It was unbelievable.”
Ultimately, three key figures stand out. The Bonnies didn’t miss at the free throw line, going 9 for 9. They also owned the fast break advantage, outscoring the Cavaliers 11-0. St. Bonaventure committed just seven turnovers.
UVA coach Tony Bennett opened his postgame comments by praising Bona’s team. “First, a credit to St. Bonaventure,” he said. “They have five seniors and they played like experienced seniors.”
Four Ponies—Holmes, Lofton, Addaway and Welch—played all 40 minutes.
Schmidt was somewhat surprised after the game, especially considering three road wins over Power 5 opponents in a seven-day span. “If you told me we were going to go to Madison Square Garden, I wouldn’t have believed it. But our guys believed and did what they had to do,” he said. Olean Times Herald.
LaPlaca recalled buying beers for a group of Bona students while Bona celebrated with the post-game crowd. As it turns out, half of them are from UVA. “They told me, ‘You know what? We’re not happy we lost the game, but your fans are unbelievable!’ That made my entire journey,” he said.
“I look back at that game and the vibe around that team and this little engine that could do it again and now we’re going to New York. It was amazing,” LaPlaca said.
Any sense of a missed RC game disappeared that Tuesday evening. Bona fans now head to Madison Square Garden.
And maybe some Virginia fans tagged along.