Virginia comes up short in closing seconds, falling 52-51 to Bonnies

By Scott Ratcliffe

Virginia’s season came to an end in the NIT quarterfinals Tuesday, as visiting St. Bonaventure got a pair of Kyle Lofton free throws to take the lead in the closing seconds and escape with a 52-51 win. Kihei Clark’s would-be game winner was swatted out of bounds, along with UVA’s hopes of making one last road trip to New York City for the tournament semifinals.

Instead of heading to Madison Square Garden next week, the Cavaliers will look to next season, finishing the 2021-22 campaign with a record of 21-14.

Armaan Franklin made 5 of 11 from 3-point range, including a pair on consecutive trips — one with 3:38 on the clock, the other with 2:59 — that turned a one-point deficit into a five-point lead, 50-45, capping an 8-0 Cavalier run with a key Kadin Shedrick takeaway sandwiched in between.

But the Bonnies (23-9) kept chipping away and stole their third-straight road win over a Power-Five opponent to punch their ticket to the Big Apple.

After a poor-shooting first half, the Wahoos connected on six of their first nine field-goal attempts of the second half. Shedrick electrified the home crowd with an alley-oop finish, and then Jayden Gardner tied the game at 25-all with his second bucket of the half after UVA trailed by four at halftime.

Franklin’s third 3-ball of the game gave Virginia a one-point edge, its first lead since it was 13-12, and Gardner sank another from just a few inches beyond the free-throw line, and the Hoos led by three, 30-27, with 15:50 to play.

Shedrick, who scored 8 points in the opening eight-plus minutes of the second half after going scoreless in the first, flushed home another powerful, two-hand dunk to the delight of the JPJ crowd, as the Cavaliers held a 36-31 advantage with 11:36 remaining.

Jalen Adaway cut Virginia’s lead to three with a reverse layup as the clock went under eight minutes, and then Dominick Welch knocked down the Bonnies’ first triple of the night after missing their first 10 attempts, and the score was knotted at 40-all with 7:05 remaining.

Tied at 42-apiece, Adaway barely beat the shot clock with his contested 3-pointer with 4:35 to go. Reece Beekman scored to cut it to one, and then Franklin’s back-to-back 3-point daggers gave Virginia a fairly comfortable late cushion, but the Hoos went on to miss their last two field-goal tries in the final 2:59 — along with two crucially important free-throw attempts in the final 30 seconds.

A pair of Jaren Holmes free throws pulled the Bonnies within three, 50-47, with 1:51 left in the contest, and an offensive foul by Osun Osunniyi 30 seconds later wiped off a made 3-pointer by his teammate.

The Bonnies got it back after a Gardner miss with 52 seconds left and quickly called a timeout to draw up a play, but Holmes couldn’t get his ensuing shot to drop, Shedrick secured the rebound, and Franklin split a pair of free throws with 30 seconds remaining, putting the Hoos up by four.

Welch buried a 3 with 20.8 ticks on the clock to make it 51-50, and Gardner missed the front end of a one-and-one, leaving the door open for one last crack at it for the Bonnies.

Lofton was fouled by Franklin on a drive to the hole and tied the game with 5.3 seconds left with his first of two free throws, and Tony Bennett called for a timeout before his second attempt. Lofton made the second, setting up Clark’s layup attempt that was blocked by Osunniyi as the final horn sounded.

Franklin led all scorers with 17 points to go with his 6 rebounds, while Gardner added 14 points (7 for 15 FG) and five boards in what could be his last game as a Wahoo, although he’s expected to return for a “super-senior” season next year.

Shedrick finished with 8 points, a team-best 9 rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Beekman fouled out late in the contest, posting 6 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists (no steals) in 36 minutes.

Virginia shot 20 for 53 (38 percent) from the field and 26 percent from long distance (5 for 19), with Franklin being the only Hoo to make a 3-pointer. UVA edged the Bonnies on the boards, 35-34.

Welch, Holmes and Osunniyi each scored 10 points to lead St. Bonaventure, with Lofton and Adaway adding 9 apiece.

FIRST HALF

The Cavaliers found themselves in a quick 4-0 hole when Franklin picked up where he left off Sunday, knocking down an open 3-pointer. Moments later, Beekman found Franklin in the corner for another triple, and this time he was fouled, completing a four-point play and giving UVA an 11-8 edge a little over five minutes in.

The Bonnies missed six-straight shots and went nearly four minutes without scoring, but trimmed it to one by the under-12 media timeout on an Abdoul Karim Coulibaly jumper.

St. Bonaventure grabbed the lead back on a Holmes basket with 9:30 on the clock, as the Hoos were in the midst of their own scoreless drought of over seven minutes, missing six attempts in a row until Beekman scored off the glass and Virginia led, 13-12, with 6:56 until halftime.

The two teams combined for just six points and missed 17 of 19 shots in a span of over eight minutes, as the Bonnies went another four-plus minutes without scoring until Osunniyi put them back in front by one with 4:49 remaining.

Lofton’s three-point play stretched the visitors’ lead to 17-13 just over a minute later, then he gave the Bonnies their largest lead with his jumper with 1:48 left.

Francisco Caffaro dunked one down with 43 ticks showing, but the Hoos headed to the locker room with a four-point deficit.

UVA shot 28 percent overall (7 for 25) across the opening 20 minutes, including 18 percent (2 of 11) from 3-point land, but held the Bonnies — who misfired on all seven attempts from beyond the arc — to 30-percent shooting (10 for 30).

The Cavaliers scored just six points over the final 14 minutes, gave up 6 offensive rebounds and were outscored 18-4 in the paint in the first half.