Saint Louis hasn’t shown up on anyone’s “bubble” list but maybe… just maybe they should.
The Billikens (23-10) came away with a hard fought 57-56 win over St. Bonaventure.
The second half was a tight affair. Gibson Jimerson (20 points) gave Saint Louis the lead with 17 seconds left. The Bonnies still had a chance. Kyle Lofton went to the line with 1.1 seconds and a chance to tie or win the game. Lofton missed both free throws.
Saint Louis will face top-seed Davidson tomorrow in the Atlantic 10 semifinals.
Coming into today’s game, the Billikens had a Net Ranking of 59. There 1-4 record in Quad 1 games won’t help their case but a win over Davidson could change that.
The Atlantic 10 can make an argument that they’re a multi-bid league especially if Davidson doesn’t win the conference tournament.
If Davidson (Net Ranking 46) and VCU/Dayton make the finals, the loser will probably be the only at-large bid the conference will receive (if that).
Joe Lunardi has Dayton (Net Ranking 52) as the “First Four Out” and VCU (Net Ranking 51) as the “Next Four Out”. A Dayton-VCU semifinals game could essentially be an elimination game.
Davidson is currently listed as the automatic qualifier.
There’s still work to be done in DC but it looks like the Atlantic 10 is deserving of some bubbly love.
