It was all that St. Bonaventure could have asked.

Trailing Saint Louis, 57-56, with 1.9 seconds left in Friday afternoon’s Atlantic 10 men’s basketball quarterfinal at Washington’s Capital One Arena, the Bonnies were in perfect position.

The conference’s third-best free throw shooting team had its best foul shooter on the line for two shots.

And captain Kyle Lofton was its most proficient at the line and sixth in the A-10 at a solid 83%. Making one would virtually assure overtime as the Billikens had no remaining timeouts and hitting both would likely boost the fourth-seeded Bonnies into this afternoon’s semifinal against top-seed Davidson.

Then the almost unthinkable happened … three times.

In a matter of seconds, coach Mark Schmidt’s crew went from potentially winning the game in regulation, to at very least sending it to OT, to losing at the buzzer.

Lofton missed the first free throw.

No problem, he could still tie it.

However, the second also rimmed out.

But, with impressive extra effort, Lofton corralled the rebound and put up a short shot from the right side while still in the air. However, the long layup was a bit too hard and the ball slid off the iron as Saint Louis celebrated in relief.

NOBODY was about to blame Lofton.

After all, the Bonnies missed three of their other six free throws including two by center Osun Osunniyi with his team leading, 56-55, and a minute remaining.

And, in a subdued postgame press conference Schmidt was quick to defend his point guard.

“It wasn’t a lack of effort,” he said of Lofton’s misses. “He’s always in the gym (practicing). One play doesn’t define you. He’s been everything to our program (and) to me as the head coach. He epitomizes everything that we want in a player. A good student. Keeps his nose clean socially. He’s a hard worker. He’s a captain for four years.

“I told him he has nothing to apologize for. We’re here (as the No. 4 seed) and a big reason is because of what he’s done for us.”

Still, the loss was one of Bona’s most hurtful in recent memory, especially since it had already beaten the Billikens twice, home-and-home, over a span of three days in February, 68-61 and 83-79.

Yeah, the cliche says “it’s tough to beat a team three times in a season,” yet though Schmidt won’t admit it, the defeat was particularly galling for him to lose such an important game to Travis Ford, whose cocky arrogance has made him the conference’s most unpopular coach, uncontested.

Still, there was some good news for wagering Bona fans.

Even though the Bonnies owned two wins over Saint Louis this season and were ranked higher in the conference tournament, the Billikens were favored by two points, on a neutral court, no less.

Thus, despite the one-point loss, SBU covered the spread.

SO WHAT happens now?

The first question from St, Bonaventure fans is whether the Bonnies will make the NIT.

After Sunday’s 6 p.m. announcement of the NCAA field on CBS, two hours later the National Invitation Tournament bracket will be revealed on ESPNU.

This year, the field has gone back to 32 teams after being reduced to 16 last March due to Covid concerns.

And, at 20-9, given the quality of the conference, it would seem the Bonnies have a good shot at being part of the field and playing next Wednesday or Thursday, possibly even at the Reilly Center.

When asked about it, Schmidt said, “We ‘ll see what happens in the next couple of days … if the guys are willing to play in (the NIT) …”

Then, harkening back to his days as an assistant at Xavier in 1999, he added of the team that advanced to the NIT Final Four in Madison Square Garden,“It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. If we have the opportunity to do that, I would think that we would take it.”

The second question is long-term.

Bona’s five senior starters are eligible for the NCAA’s coronavirus-mandated program granting athletes an extra year of eligibility.

However, schools have to agree to be part of it … which clearly Bona would do.

But, there’s an added hurdle.

Players who have received their degrees can only return if they become graduate students and are taking at least nine hours of course work.

How that impacts Bona’s starting five remains uncertain and it’s currently the biggest concern of the Bona faithful.

(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)