St. Bonaventure to face VCU Friday night in place of postponed UMass game

By CHUCKIE MAGGIO

The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team will not be making its scheduled road trip to the University of Massachusetts next Sunday after UMass imposed a department-wide athletics pause. Instead, the Bonnies will visit Virginia Commonwealth on Friday in a rematch of last month’s comeback victory, according to multiple sources. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.

The UMass-Amherst campus has seen a surge of COVID-19 cases, raising the school’s designated risk level from “Elevated” to “High Risk,” the school announced Sunday. The Minutemen will not conduct basketball activities for at least 14 days and will only be allowed to resume activity “when public health conditions improve substantially.”

UMass Amherst Campus COVID-19 Risk Level Raised From “Elevated” to “High”

As part of public health measures implemented by campus, athletic activity for all sports programs will pause.

🔗: https://t.co/eLcXkQVPNP pic.twitter.com/9qkHanc5wK

— UMass Athletics (@UMassAthletics) February 7, 2021

The Bonnies were slated to play the Minutemen, who won at Rhode Island last night and are 6-2 in conference, on NBC Sports Network. VCU was expected to host UMass as part of ESPN’s Atlantic 10 “Friday Night Showcase” package.

Bona was not previously scheduled to make a return trip to Richmond. The Bonnies and Rams are Nos. 40 and 41, respectively, in the NCAA’s NET ranking. Both are in contention for an at-large bid into next month’s NCAA Tournament. Bona won the first matchup 70-54 at the Reilly Center.