WASHINGTON (AP) — Gibson Jimerson compiled 20 points, including a go-ahead baseline jumper with 17.5 seconds left, as Saint Louis edged past St. Bonaventure 57-56 in the Atlantic 10 Championship Quarterfinals on Friday at Capital One Arena.
Victory in hand, the fifth-seeded Billikens (23-10) officially reserved their spot in Saturday's upcoming A-10 Semifinals, squaring off with No. 1 overall Davidson at 1:00 p.m.
Down one with just under a minute remaining, SLU took advantage of an extended possession following back-to-back-to-back offensive rebounds en route to the go-ahead bucket from Jimerson. The redshirt freshman slipped down the baseline on an inbounds play before knocking down the 15-footer, vaulting Saint Louis to a decisive advantage.
"We ran the same kind of out of bounds play two or three times in a row, and they guarded the first two times well," Jimerson recalled. "I just adjusted. I didn't set a screen, just slipped it out and was able to get the ball. I just rose up and made the shot. I just made that little adjustment there, and I was able to get it in my spot and knock it down."
The Bonnies countered with an offensive rebound of their own, earning free throws for Kyle Lofton with 1.8 seconds left. A pair of misses plus the failed putback concluded the clash in favor of Saint Louis.
"You knew it was going to be like this," St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said. "Both games, at their place and our place, they were tightly contested games. In tournament games, you don't have an opportunity to shoot here, so it's going to be more of a defensive-oriented game. You are not going to shoot the ball great. That's just the way it goes. We knew it was going to be a tough, physical game, and that's what it was for both teams. It wasn't great execution, it was great defense. It was physical. But we knew that – who we were playing and what type of game it was going to be."
On the day, Jimerson hit six of nine 3-pointers while Francis Okoro collected a double-double behind a 14-point, 12-board performance for the Billikens. Yuri Collins added 11 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Jalen Adaway had 18 points for the Bonnies (20-9) while Dominick Welch contributed 14 points and seven rebounds. Kyle Lofton finished with 10 points.