The victory came one day after St. Bonaventure beat No. 12 seed La Salle 99-80 in the first round and five days after a 68-63 loss at home to Davidson. Schmidt announced after that game he will retire after the 2025-26 season.
“I’m really proud of our effort,” Schmidt said. “It’s a life lesson. Things weren’t going well, and our guys didn’t quit. They fought. They made winning plays. We struggled in games decided by five or less points. The season could have been totally different in terms of record, but I wouldn’t want to win those games because of how we played today."
The No. 4 seed Dayton Flyers (21-10) will play St. Bonaventure (17-16) in the quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Friday.
Dayton beat St. Bonaventure 72-70 at UD Arena on Feb. 3. Jordan Derkack made two free throws with 2.3 seconds to play to lift Dayton to that victory as the Flyers ended a four-game losing streak.
Dayton is 3-3 against St. Bonaventure in the A-10 tournament. The teams last played in the event in 2015. Dayton won 75-71 in the quarterfinals.
St. Bonaventure is the first double-digit seed to reach the quarterfinals since No. 10 seed La Salle and No. 11 Saint Joseph’s in 2013. Both of those teams lost in the quarterfinals.
St. Bonaventure is the lowest-seeded team to reach the quarterfinals.
Against George Mason, St. Bonaventure trailed 44-33 early in the second half. It trailed 55-50 with 6:28 to play and then started a 13-2 run, tying the game at 55-55 with 3:40 to play.
George Mason swept St. Bonaventure in the regular season, winning 77-73 on the road on Jan. 31 and 71-58 at home on Feb. 28.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
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