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CHARLESTON CLASSIC

2021 Champions

By St. Bonaventure Bonnies

November 23^rd, 2021

BONNIES IN CHARLESTON

The St. Bonaventure men's basketball team traveled to the Palmetto State for the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic Nov. 18-21, and came away with one of the biggest in-season tournament victories in program history. In winning the tournament crown, the Bonnies scored wins over opponents from the Mountain West, ACC and Big East while raising their status in the national rankings.

St. Bonaventure entered the week as a headliner of the tournament, one generally regarded as among the top multi-team events (MTEs) in college basketball. Dating to 2008, the event had been won by just one non-Power 6 conference team previously - UMass in 2013. This season's field included teams from the ACC, Big East, Big 12, SEC, American, Mountain West, Atlantic 10 and Colonial.

This year's event featured six teams that finished in the top 100 of last season's final NCAA NET rankings - St. Bonaventure (31), West Virginia (22), Clemson (45), Boise State (53), Ole Miss (54) and Marquette (93).

BONNIES VS BRONCOS

ST. BONAVENTURE 67, BOISE STATE 61

Hundreds of St. Bonaventure students, alumni, townsfolk and other supporters made the trip to the Holy City to cheer on the Bonnies, and they immediately made their presence felt. When the Bonnies took to the court for Thursday's first round against Boise State the sound could have been confused for the Reilly Center rather than TD Arena, a site over 800 miles away from St. Bonaventure's campus. The overwhelming support continued throughout the week and quickly became a storyline for ESPN announcers and Charleston townspeople alike as the city was full of Brown and White throughout the duration of the tournament.

"To be invited to a tournament the caliber of the Charleston Classic is a tremendous thing for our program and for our school to be on ESPN and get national recognition."

Bona started hot, riding the momentum of the fans for an early 14-4 lead. Boise would fight back for a three-point halftime edge, though, setting the stage for a high-level battle back-and-forth in the final 20 minutes.

The game was tied, 59-59, with 5:10 remaining when a lay-in from Dominick Welch off a feed from Jalen Adaway on the fast break pushed the Bonnies ahead once more.

Bona's vaunted defense was in full lockdown mode by that point. SBU finally was able to find an answer for Boise's Emmanuel Akot, who poured in a game-high 24 points, but did not score over the last seven minutes of the game. The Bonnies held Boise scoreless over the final 3:07 while doing enough offensively to slowly put the game out of reach.

Kyle Lofton led the way for the Bonnies with 17 points, adding seven assists. Three of his teammates were in double figures as well: Jaren Holmes delivered a double-double of 14 points, 10 rebounds; Welch finished with 12 points and seven boards and Adaway finished with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.

CLAWING BACK

ST. BONAVENTURE 68, CLEMSON 65

The Bonnies were back in action 24 hours later, this time facing off against Clemson of the ACC in the first-ever meeting between the programs.

St. Bona scored the game's first two points, but Clemson answered with the next 11 on the way to a dominant first half that saw the Tigers build a 16-point advantage. The Bonnies chipped away before intermission but went to the locker room down 10, 36-26.

After halftime, the Bonnies continually mounted rally efforts - but each time they would cut within single digits, Clemson would respond. Three times the Bonnies would get within seven on 3-pointers - two from Lofton and one from Adaway - but each time, the Tigers countered with a trey of their own to push the lead back to double digits.

Finally, the Bonnies would not be denied.

St. Bonaventure exploded for a 21-2 run to ignite their faithful in TD Arena, quickly making the Clemson lead a thing of the past. A three ball from Lofton gave the Bonnies the lead, 55-53, with eight minutes left, their first advantage since 2-0.

The stage was set for a finish made for March as the teams fought back and forth over the final minutes.

Bona's lead grew to five, but the Tigers tied the game with 1:59 to play.

Jaren Holmes hit big shot after big shot, the biggest coming on a three with 1:35 left, breaking the tie. Bona's defense held down the stretch again, forcing a desperation three attempt from Clemson just before the buzzer which fell short, allowing Bonnies fans to exhale with a 68-65 win.

"The Bona faithful, they got us through it. They're the best fanbase in the country. Every game is a home game for us. The love and support for us in Charleston is crazy. It's like the whole nation is becoming a Bona fan."

ON TO THE 'SHIP

Two wins down, the Bonnies punched their ticket to the championship final and later that night learned their opponent: Marquette. The Big East squad, in the first season under the leadership of new head coach Shaka Smart, was red-hot: a semifinal win over West Virginia ran their winning streak to five after a first round win over Ole Miss and an upset of 10th-ranked Illinois to begin the week on the road.

WE ARE CHAMPS

ST. BONAVENTURE 70, MARQUETTE 54

Early on, the championship game was what one might have expected leading up to the contest: the teams exchanged the lead several times and appeared set for a battle to the wire.

The Bonnies had other ideas, though.

A 20-3 run spanning the final five minutes of the first half and initial 2:30 of the second half launched SBU into control. From there, St. Bonaventure did not let off the gas, stretching its lead to 27 with 6:50 to play, and holding Marquette under 30 points until just 9:54 remained.

Bona's domination came as a statement to the nation watching on ESPN and a source of raucous enjoyment for its fans in attendance.

Four players finished in double figures: Holmes led all scorers with 19 points and a career-best 13 rebounds, adding four assists. Osunniyi posted a dominant line of 16 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. Lofton posted 12 points and four assists. The Bonnies owned sizable advantages in nearly every statistical category, including holding a 50-18 cushion in scoring in the paint.

Bona's victory capped a week to remember for legions of Bonnies. In addition to scoring their most prestigious in-season tournament victory since the days of Bob Lanier in the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival, St. Bonaventure also proved itself to have a one-of-a-kind fanbase in front of the eyes of a national TV audience for a week. Though in the season standings the tournament will stand as just three games on the ledger, the memories of the week in Charleston will run much deeper for the members of the Bona Family in attendance and beyond.

Footnotes

Photos by Christopher Cook

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FootNotes

Photos by Christopher Cook

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