The retirement tour will continue for St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt.
His No. 13-seeded Bonnies scored their second upset of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday, rallying from a 10-point halftime deficit to take down No. 5 George Mason, 63-57, in a second-round game at PPG Paints Arena.
St. Bonaventure (17-16) advanced to play No. 4 Dayton (21-10) in the quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Friday. The Bonnies are the first 13-seed to reach the A-10 quarterfinals.
“I’m really proud of our effort,” Schmidt said. “It’s a life lesson. Things weren’t going well. We were down by 10 at halftime. We got down by 11. Our guys didn’t quit. They fought; they made winning plays.
“We passed the test today. I’m proud and now we go on and play another really good team in Dayton tomorrow.”
Guard Dasonte Bowen had a career-high 20 points with six rebounds, forward Frank Mitchell scored 14 and guard Cayden Charles had 12 for the Bonnies. Charles and Mitchell each had seven rebounds.
“The confidence level is high,” Charles said. “Obviously, we’re really close to being a 20-win season, but we just haven’t been able to close out games. Anything can happen in March and things are starting to click. Confidence is high and we’re going to be prepared for Dayton, be ready to go.”
The Bonnies, who defeated No. 12 La Salle in the first round, didn’t hold their first lead until Charles knocked down two free throws with 3 minutes, 39 seconds remaining to put St. Bonaventure ahead 56-55.
Back-to-back baskets in the lane by Mitchell increased St. Bonaventure’s lead to 62-57 with 25 seconds left. Charles came through with key defensive rebounds on the late George Mason possessions and knocked down a final free throw to seal the win.
“I thought we defended extremely well,” Schmidt said. “We always play hard, but I thought we played with much more of a purpose. And we have good leadership. … It was a good victory. We overcame adversity, and we came out winners.”
The victory continues the season for St. Bonaventure and Schmidt, who announced last week he would retire at the end of the campaign. The 63-year-old Schmidt coached at Robert Morris for six seasons before coaching the past 19 at St. Bonaventure.
Guard Jahari Long led George Mason (23-9) with 17 points.
“I don’t think they did anything differently,” Long said. “I think we just became a little bit more disconnected than we were in the first half. We weren’t moving the ball as much. We were trying to move the ball more in the second half, trying to get more post touches. But I think we failed to play through the paint.”
George Mason defeated St. Bonaventure twice in the regular season but couldn’t close out the Bonnies on Thursday.
“This is a tough way to go out, a tough way for my seniors,” George Mason coach Tony Skinn said. “I’m disappointed, I’m frustrated. I’m everything you can think of. But I’ve got to have the thought of a senior right now, because my seniors didn’t go out the way that I expected them to go out.”
St. Bonaventure now prepares for a rematch with Dayton. The Bonnies beat the Flyers, 72-70, on Feb. 3. St. Bonaventure is 3-3 all-time against Dayton in the A-10 Tournament.