Atlantic 10 Tournament: St. Bonaventure Punches NCAA Tournament Ticket

Bid thief! St. Bonaventure earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament with a 67-56 win against Xavier in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

The win is bad news for bubble teams, as the Bonnies (20-11), who were unlikely to receive real consideration for an at-large bid, now are assured a spot in the 68-team field. It will be St. Bonaventure’s first trip to the big dance since 2000.

St. Bonaventure is on the verge of making an NCAA bubble team very sad. The Bonnies lead Xavier 37-24 at halftime of the 2012 Atlantic 10 Championship on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Xavier guard Tu Holloway is doing what he can to keep the Musketeers in this one with 11 points, two assists and two rebounds. He’s only missed two shots.

St. Bonaventure and Xavier will meet in the 2012 Atlantic 10 Championship on Sunday in a matchup that could have significant bubble implications. While it’s unclear whether or not Xavier is in the field as an at-large, St. Bonaventure almost certainly needs a win and the automatic berth to make the NCAA Tournament. Should the Bonnies win, it’s possible another bubble team gets knocked out of contention.

The Bonnies find themselves a player for the A-10’s automatic bid after two close wins in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. St. Joe’s was the first victim, with the Bonnies taking a 71-68 win to move on to the semifinals. On Saturday, St. Bonaventure knocked off UMass, who previously took out top-seeded Temple, to move to within one game of a certain NCAA Tournament bid.

Saint Louis, the A-10’s second-seed, is likely still going to the NCAA Tournament anyway after a 25-7 regular season and a 12-4 conference record. The Billikens shot just 25 percent from three-point range, and though they had balanced scoring — five players reached double-digits — no one scored more than 14 and they couldn’t match Xavier’s offensive firepower.

The Musketeers will be one half of a surprising A-10 title game Sunday night when they take on St. Bonaventure.

St. Bonaventure advanced to the 2012 Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship game on Saturday with an 84-80 win over No. 8 seeded UMass, who upset No. 1 seeded Temple on Friday. It’s the first time the Bonnies have moved on to the title game since 2000. They will face the winner of the Xavier and Saint Louis semifinal game.

For more on the Atlantic 10 men’s basketball tournament 2012, be sure to check out our StoryStream and SB Nation D.C.‘s StoryStream.

Location: Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ

Game Date/Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET

Location: Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ

Game Date/Time: Saturday, 1 p.m. ET

The Atlantic 10 Tournament picks right up where it left off as the semifinal round gets underway on Saturday. The big surprise on Friday was the fall of the top-seeded Temple Owls, who dropped a quarterfinal matchup to Massachusets and were eliminated from the A-10 Tournament. The rest of the bracket was chalk, though someone is poised to steal an auto bid thanks to Temple’s slip.

St. Bonaventure will face UMass in the first semifinal after putting away Saint Joseph’s on Friday. In the other matchup, Saint Louis is through following a win over seventh-seeded La Salle. They’ll face Xavier, who took care of business in the last quarterfinal matchup with a win over Dayton.

Lyons scored 12 points in the game, but seven of those were Xavier’s final seven points. Dayton did not make a field goal in the final four minutes of the game while Lyons made two and got to the foul line on two occasions. His game-winning layup came with 21 seconds remaining. Dayton had multiple opportunities to score a game-winning basket, but missed on both of their shots on their final possession.

Though Lyons took over in the closing minutes, Tu Holloway and Kenny Frease were Xavier’s stars until then. Holloway led all scorers with 21 points, while Fraese scored 17. Xavier move on to face Saint Louis in the Atlantic 10 semifinals.

Here’s the full 2012 Atlantic 10 Tournament bracket.

For complete coverage of the Atlantic 10 Tournament, be sure to keep checking the SB Nation StoryStream.

Here’s the full 2012 Atlantic 10 Tournament bracket.

For complete coverage of the Atlantic 10 Tournament, be sure to keep checking the SB Nation StoryStream.

Chaz Williams scored 20 points and had 10 assists to lead No. 8 seed Massachusetts to an upset of top-seeded Temple, 77-71, in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Friday.

After the Owls carried a 36-31 lead into the locker room at halftime, UMass scored the first 17 points of the second half to build a 12-point advantage. Temple eventually clawed its way back to a 61-57 lead, but the Minutemen outscored them 20-10 over the final seven minutes to pull off the shocker.

After a three-day hiatus, the Atlantic 10 Tournament resumes on Friday with the quarterfinal round. The venue shifts from the higher-seeded team’s home floor to a neutral site as the A10 invades Atlantic City, aptly named, for the weekend. The eight remaining teams should be well-rested on Friday and the top-four teams in the regular season standings will make their tournament debut.

UMass, Saint Joseph’s, La Salle and Dayton all won play-in games on Tuesday, earning the right to make the trip to Atlantic City for Friday’s quarterfinal matchups. They’ll be joined by Temple, the No. 1 seed, St. Bonaventure, the No. 4 seed, Saint Louis, the No. 2 seed, and Xavier, the No. 3 seed. The action begins at the crack of noon, live from Atlantic City.

Dayton split its season series with Xavier, winning at home on Jan. 21 before falling in overtime on the road on Feb. 18. Both schools are considered to be on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, and this game could easily determine who ends up getting the nod.

UMass’ ability to get to the free-throw line was the biggest difference between the two teams. They made 24-31 from the line, while Duquesne was 9-11. The Dukes actually made one more field goal than UMass, but they needed 11 more shots to do it and didn’t get to the charity stripe often enough.

Five members of the Hawks, including four starters, scored in double figures while the team shot 55 percent from the field. Their size advantage against UNC-Charlotte was apparent throughout, with St. Joe’s grabbing 40 rebounds to the 49ers’ 26. The Hawks also recording eight blocks.

St. Joe’s moves on to face the No. 4 seeded Saint Bonaventure Bonnies on Wednesday.

The 2012 Atlantic 10 Tournament kicks off Tuesday with four first-round matchups featuring the No. 5 through No. 12 seeds. The 12 men’s basketball teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference will be competing for the conference championship and an automatic bid into the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

St. Joe’s and Charlotte faced off once before during the 2011-12 regular season. The 49ers came out ahead in that Jan. 7 contest, winning by a final score of 57-52. St. Joseph’s finished the season with a 9-7 record in the Atlantic 10, while Charlotte went 5-11 in conference play.

The 2012 Atlantic 10 Tournament kicks off on Tuesday with four first-round matchups between the No. 5 through No. 12 seeds. The 12 men’s basketball teams in the Atlantic 10 conference will be competing for the conference championship and an automatic bid into the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

In the lone meeting between the two teams during the 2011-12 regular season, the Dukes came out on top, defeating UMass by a final score of 80-69 on January 18. UMass finished the season with a 9-7 record in the Atlantic 10, while Duquesne had a 7-9 record in conference play.

Seventh-seeded La Salle will host 10th-seeded Richmond Tuesday night in a first round matchup in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. The winner earns the right to face No. 2 Saint Louis in the quarterfinals on Friday in Atlantic City.

Richmond, the tournament champion a season ago, enters the postseason with a disappointing record of 16-15, including a 7-9 mark in league play. The Spiders will come to Philadelphia with a bit of momentum, however, having won three of their final four regular season games.

The Dayton Flyers will look to keep their hopes for a spot in the field of 68 alive when they host George Washington in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament Tuesday night at 7 p.m. ET.

Dayton, the tournament’s No. 6 seed, is sitting squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble for the time being, but a first round defeat would almost certainly relegate them to the NIT. The 11th-seeded Colonials have the worst overall record (10-20) of any team in the conference, and won just two of their final 11 games to close the regular season.

The 2012 Atlantic 10 Tournament looks like it might be a breeze for top-seeded Temple and No. 2 Saint Louis. But No. 3 Xavier may have some things to say about that in Atlantic City beginning on Friday.

The first round of the A-10 Tournament begins Tuesday, March 6, with the eight lowest-seeded teams, including No. 5 Saint Joseph’s and No. 6 Dayton playing match-ups at campus sites for the right to meet the top four seeds at Boardwalk Hall.

The Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament takes place March 6 and March 9-11, first on campus locations, then at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

The A10 utilizes the typical 12-team bracket. The top four teams get byes to the March 9 quarterfinals in Atlantic City, while the bottom eight teams face off on March 6 at the home of the higher seed.