No. 4 Dayton thwarts St. Bonaventure’s upset bid, reaches A-10 semifinals

Bill Hartlep TribLive Fri, Mar 13, 2026 • 04:36 PM

Dayton’s Malcolm Thomas defends against Saint Bonaventure’s Cayden Charles in quarterfinal action during the A-10 men’s basketball championships Friday, March 13, 2026 at PPG Paints Arena. (Chaz Palla | TribLive)

Fourth-seeded Dayton held off a charge from No. 13 St. Bonaventure in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament Friday afternoon, securing a 68-63 victory at PPG Paints Arena.

St. Bonaventure (17-17), which upset No. 12 La Salle and No. 5 George Mason in the first two rounds, had no answer for Dayton guard Javon Bennett, who finished with 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including six 3-pointers. Guard Jordan Derkack added 15 points, and forward Amael L’etang had 11 points and 12 rebounds

Dayton (22-10) advanced to play No. 1 Saint Louis (28-4) in the semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Guard Buddy Simmons had 20 points, and forward Frank Mitchell added 16 points and six rebounds for St. Bonaventure.

The loss likely signified the final game in the career of Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt, who said he planned to retire after the season. He spent the past 19 seasons at St. Bonaventure after six previous campaigns at Robert Morris.

This story will be updated.