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Gathers' buzzer-beater gives Bonnies upset of Saint Louis

Mar 14, 2014 - 11:03 PM Brooklyn, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Jordan Gathers knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift St. Bonaventure to a 71-68 upset of No. 18 St. Louis on Friday, knocking the top-seeded Billikens out of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Gathers' shot was the third 3-pointer made in the last 39 seconds of the game and set up a meeting with Saint Joseph's in Saturday's semifinals. The Hawks beat Dayton later Friday.

Dwayne Evans had just tied the score for St. Louis on a 3-pointer at the other end but couldn't get out quick enough on Gathers, who broke free up top to get into position for Charlon Kloof's pass.

Gathers said it was the first game-winning shot of his career.

"When I let it go, I knew it was going in," he said.

Matthew Wright scored 22 points for St. Bonaventure (18-14) and made three key 3-pointers in the second half, including one from the right corner for a 68-65 lead with 38.2 seconds left.

Earlier, he made back-to-back threes -- the first to give St. Bonaventure its first lead, and the second to make it a 57-52 game with nine minutes left, capping a 10-0 run.

Kloof also scored 22 for the ninth-seeded Bonnies, who opened the tournament with an 82-72 win over La Salle on Thursday to stop a four-game losing streak. Youssou Ndoye added 13 points in the win.

Mike McCall Jr. led Saint Louis (26-6) with 21 points, Evans scored 15 and Jordair Jett had nine.

Billikens coach Jim Crews said his team had trouble with St. Bonaventure's 1-3-1 zone in the second half.

"Their zone bothered us in terms of being in rhythm," he said. "We just didn't get guys in the right spots in a consistent way. I really don't know why, but we were having problems with that. So here we are."

St. Louis was trying to win the A-10 regular-season and tournament titles for the second season in a row.

The Billikens clinched the regular-season title on Sunday when Jett's layup with 3.4 seconds left beat Massachusetts to snap a three-game losing streak.

Jett's turnover in the lane led to Wright's late 3-pointer for the lead. Jett looked like he was fouled on the play -- Kloof hit him across the arm -- and he lost the ball after running into Ndoye.

The Billikens used an 8-0 run to take an early 18-6 advantage and led by as many as 13 in the first half. They had a 38-28 lead at halftime.

The Bonnies were 6-for-9 on 3-pointers in the second half, with Wright going 5-of-7.

Game Notes

Saint Louis beat VCU in last year's final to win its first conference tournament title in 13 years.