Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
St. Bonaventure thought it had a win in regulation, but its joy was shortlived. VCU capitalized on a second chance and outlasted the Bonnies in overtime, 83-77, on Saturday at the Reilly Center.
Matt Mobley, who set a school record with nine three-pointers in the game, made a go-ahead three-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in regulation to put St. Bonaventure ahead 66-65. But an administrative technical foul was then immediately assessed against St. Bonaventure, as game officials explained, for fans coming onto the court and impeding play.
VCU was awarded one technical free throw and JeQuan Lewis made it to force overtime.
In the extra stanza, VCU led 79-77 after Mobley made his ninth three-pointer, but the Rams sealed the game on two free throws by Mo Alie-Cox with 18 seconds left.
Mobley finished with a career-high 34 points as he went 10-19 overall and 9-15 from three-point range. Jaylen Adams finished with 21 points and six assists.
The heartbreaking ending prevented the Bonnies (14-8) from tying VCU in the Atlantic 10 standings. Instead, St. Bonaventure dropped into a tie for fifth place at 6-4. VCU (18-5), which won its fourth in a row, is now tied for first in the A-10 at 8-2.
How It Happened:
The Bonnies won the tip and Mobley cashed in his first three-pointer of the evening on the first shot attempt of the game.
Josh Ayeni stopped a 7-0 VCU run with a jump shot at the right elbow, and Denzel Gregg knocked down two free throws after a stop on the defensive end to know the score at 7-7 at the 16:15 mark.
The two teams traded buckets for a brief period until VCU went on an 8-2 run to pull head, 18-13, at the 8:42 mark.
Mobley did all the scoring for the Bonnies from the 7:18-3:10 marks on three three-pointers, and a steal then a jumper from David Andoh made in 28-26, VCU, with 2:21 left in the half.
A three-pointer on the Bonnies’ final possession of the half from Mobley sent the two teams into the locker room separated by one point, 30-29 in favor of VCU.
The Rams started out the second half outscoring the Bonnies, 10-6, in the first three minutes of the half, with two buckets from Gregg helping St. Bonaventure keep pace.
Mobley then gave the Bonnies the lead with 15:15 remaining in regulation as he converted on a three-point play and hit a three-pointer, bringing the score to 41-40.
VCU gained the lead but Jaylen Adams took it right back as he made his first three-pointer of the night at the 12:27 mark, bringing the score to 46-45 in favor of the Bonnies.
Adams kept pace with the Rams as all of the Bona scoring from the 11:32-5:53 mark came courtesy of Adams at the free-throw line as VCU held a 58-56 lead.
As the Rams showed signs of pulling away with the lead, Mobley hit a three-pointer with 1:39 remaining to make 65-61, VCU.
Adams then knocked down two free throws with just over a minute remaining, making it 65-63.
After a defensive stop, the Bonnies called a timeout with 3.0 seconds left to set their final play that ended with Mobley’s go-ahead three-pointer.
The Rams outscored the Bonnies, 17-11, in the extra stanza to secure the win.
Beyond The Box Score:
Mobley scored 17 of the team’s 29 points in the first half.
Jaylen Adams scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half, and went a perfect 12-12 from the charity stripe in the half.
The Bonnies forced 15 VCU turnovers and capitalized, scoring 18 points off the turnovers. Mobley and Adams combined for five steals, while Andoh and Ikpeze had one each.
Denzel Gregg blocked four shots.
The back-and-forth matchup was tied eight times and the lead changed 10 times.
The prior record of eight three-pointers in a single game was shared by six players in eight different games, most recently Marcus Posley at Duquesne Jan. 22, 2015.
The game was viewed by a sell-out crowd of 5,480.
Up Next: St. Bonaventure will host Saint Louis next Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m.
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