Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – After the Bonnies and their fans had a chance to exhale, knowing they had held off La Salle, 75-73, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament, Mika Adams-Woods had to ask.
He wanted to know if Daeshon Shepherd’s wild attempt at a game-tying put-back dunk would have counted had it been good.
Of course, there were enough heartstopping moments in the final minute or so of play to make it tough to keep up with everything that happened.
Yes, Shepherd’s try would have beaten the clock. But, his off-balance effort slipped out of his hands at the buzzer, allowing the Bonnies to hold on.
In a contest where it seemed as though the Bonnies might run away only to see La Salle not only rally but threaten to take control before nearly snatching the game away in the final seconds, the Bonnies were the last ones standing on the way to a date with second-seeded Loyola Chicago Thursday at 5 p.m.
Adams-Woods led the Bonnies with 15 points and six assists, one of six SBU players in double figures along with Charles Pride (13 points), Chad Venning (12), Noel Brown (11), Daryl Banks III (11) and Moses Flowers (10).
“It was a great game with two teams who fought for every possession,” head coach Mark Schmidt said. “We just found a way. I feel for the La Salle guys losing that way, but you just have to win by one to advance. That’s tournament play. Now we look forward to tomorrow.”
The first half ended as Brown provided a highlight reel-worthy buzzer beater to give the Bonnies control, 42-34.
Adams-Woods found Brown in the low post, but the ball bounded toward the free throw line where Bona’s big man corralled it, spun around and beat the halftime horn by tenths of a second to send the Bonnies to intermission with all the momentum.
Brown was key off the bench in one of his strongest showings of the season.
“Noel was the difference of the first half,” Schmidt said.
Venning, Bona’s starting center, gave the squad their largest lead at 10 with the first bucket of the second half.
Then, a scoring lull hit.
Bona saw over four minutes pass without points as La Salle started to chip away.
Ultimately, the Explorers pulled ahead, 55-52, following a Jhamir Brickus runner as part of a 12-2 La Salle run.
Over the final eight minutes, the momentum would swing back and forth.
SBU pushed ahead, 60-59, following three free throws from Banks, but Rokas Jocius immediately drained a trey on the other end for another lead chance.
A three-point play by Venning switched the momentum to the Bonnies bench only for Jocius to quiet it again.
The lead changed hands 11 times, but a three-ball from Moses Flowers on the fastbreak put the Bonnies ahead with 1:51 to go.
La Salle tied it on free throws 20 seconds later, but Bona would never trail again.
A jumper in the paint by Venning followed by another by Banks made it a four-point game.
With the score still at that margin with 17 seconds left, a foul on a three-point try put Brickus at the line for three shots. He connected on each for a 74-73 score.
La Salle fouled Venning, forcing him to the line where he made one of two for the two-point edge.
Brickus heaved a three for the win that was no good, but Shepherd seized the rebound and tried to slam it home as time expired.
Brickus had a game-high 18 points for La Salle while Jocius added 16.
“Games like this, we just have to stick together and have each other’s backs,” Adams-Woods said. “Times like this are crazy; you have to make a big play at the end and stick together. That’s the most important thing this time of year.”
UP NEXT
St. Bonaventure will take on second-seeded Loyola Chicago in the quarterfinals Thursday at 5 p.m. on USA Network. Loyola earned a double bye and has not played yet in the tournament thanks to its top-four seed.
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