Bonnies fans can, and should vote for Marcus Posley as ESPN’s Capitol One Impact Performer of the Week using the link below. Posley’s back to back buzzer beaters are currently tied for first place (41% of all votes) so every one helps. Since we can’t buy the kid a drink (or you shouldn’t probably) you can help him win this weekly honor.

Also, we’ve decided Posley’s nickname could be “The Sandman” because he’s become the best closer this side of Mo. Between the two buzzer beaters in a week and his bonkers of a game against Duquesne Posley has lifted the Bonnies to three league wins. I don’t know that there’s another player in the A10 whose made a bigger impact for his team. It’s scary to think where SBU would be without his talents this season. Let’s hope Schmidt can uncover a similar player this spring to fit in at wing/center next year.

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/poll/conversation/_/id/4697684

By the time 9 p.m. had rolled around, Shane had fallen asleep at the table, a half-eaten beef on weck sitting in front of him. The waitresses at the Beef & Barrel had hatched a plan to sing Happy Birthday as a fun way to rouse Shane from his slumber.

It was not anybody’s birthday on Saturday, but a full-on celebration had been underway for hours.

By the time 9 p.m. had rolled around, we were exhausted from the St. Bonaventure basketball experience – from Burton burgers, to booze, to the Rathskeller, a drink with Mark at the Village Green, and one the most thrilling victories at the Reilly Center in recent years.

From high above the court, halfway up the upper deck, Ian sprinted from his seat to rush the floor alongside the frenzied student body. He was there in time to pat the sweaty back of the day’s hero. Marcus Posley had done it again.

Long after the game was over, we were still in the Reilly Center, still soaking up an excitement in the arena that had yet to wilt – even after 5,000 happy fans had filed out of the old building an hour before.

We spotted Youssou Ndoye and Dion Wright. Drunk with enthusiasm, we offered congratulations. We saw Andell Cumberbatch on his way out of the Reilly Center. More congratulations.  There was Jay Adams and Idris Taqqee walking back to the freshman dorms. Even more congratulations.

We partied with a mob of ’80s grads in the Skeller, separated by a generation but bound by a common tie – basketball – the ultimate unifier at our small school.

Even Brendan, a Fordham grad who made the 10-hour roundtrip with Shane and Ian, rejoiced as if his team, his school had toppled a nationally-ranked foe on a last-second shot.

I predicted back in October that the Bonnies would take down VCU. Ian claimed the night before game day that Denzel Gregg would come up big off the bench. But nobody could have foreseen Marcus Posley sinking an opponent at the last possible moment for the second time in four days.

Even Posley’s coach couldn’t believe it.

“I told the guys after the Davidson game, I don’t know if it could get better,” Mark Schmidt said in the post-game press conference. “But today it got better.

Somehow, some way, it got better.

By the time 7 p.m. rolled around, Mark was drinking with alums and townsfolk at Milo’s Village Green. The coach happily chatted and took photos with the bar-goers. He never stopped smiling.

We heard that students had planned on burning a couch in Allegany to get the party started that night. These kinds of things happen when you win a game like the Bonnies did on Saturday.

By the time 9 p.m. had rolled around, Shane – his eyes shut and his chin pressed tightly against his neck – might have been dreaming about how this day could have been any better.

He was wrapped in bliss until the first notes of Happy Birthday were belted out. He awakened to a world maybe none of us could have dreamed up.

The following post was written by our friend Brendan who joined us this weekend in Olean for the VCU game. He is not contributor to the blog (yet anyway), or a Bonaventure alum but asked if he could share his experience with our readers on the way back to NYC Sunday morning. I told him to have it at. His words are below…I think you’ll find he captured the spirit and energy of Bonaventure quite well. He certainly had a “good journey”.  Please leave some comments and let us know how you feel Brendan captured a weekend in the enchanted mountains. 

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I took a vacation this weekend to step away from the cold, wet, dark winter of Manhattan and dive into the warm, basking-glow of St. Bonaventure University (and even colder weather). The majority of my friends and work colleagues couldn’t quite fathom why I was burning a sacred vacation day in February to go to scenic Olean, New York, but for the better part of four-years I’ve been listening to Shane and Ian sing the praises of “Bonas” and curiosity had gotten the better of me. Five hours into the trek to the grey-clouded, snowy Southern Tier of New York State, I wasn’t quite sure if there really was a “Bonas”, but my fears were soon alleviated as we were “wheels-down” in Olean and standing in the Reilly Center; dropping off a sixer of “Bhastan Lagah” for Coach Schmidt’s 200^th victory.  Ian and Shane roamed the campus, exchanging pleasantries with the staff and students as if they had never left. They were home; I was ready to ride the coat-tails.

Once the weekend had fully kicked-off and Vinny had joined the party, it was time for the legendary “beef on ‘weck” at the Beef and Barrel. As tender, salty slabs of meat accelerate my march towards a clogged artery, and make the ultimate sacrifice down my gullet, there was a quiet energy filling the town as students and alumni were cautiously optimistic about their date with VCU the following afternoon. Strangers united by a common-thread exchanged ideas and thoughts about how the Bonnies would need to execute on Saturday  in order to pull the upset, the injury report, and hope that it was a beginning towards another run at the Atlantic10 title. Following a quick run to borrow some beer money from the fine people of the Seneca Reservation Gaming Authority, we joined the students and alumni as they poured into “The Other Place”. It was a scene out of Cheers as old friends reunited and new well-wishers were christened (myself included). As much fun as the scene was, we were sure to remind ourselves to throttle-down, for tomorrow was what mattered.

Morning had finally arrived and The Burton Bar had three Irish degenerates ready for VIP bottle service and a cheeseburger complete with buttered bun. If you aren’t first…you’re last…

Back to the Reilly Center, I anxiously watched the clock on the scoreboard to countdown to zero. A few cocktails in the Hall of Fame room and a hug from Sister Margaret later; it was finally time. Planted in seat fit for Marcus Aurelius, the once empty arena had filled, as the 5,100+ fans gave it their all before the ball had even been tipped. 35+ minutes of action later, the Bonnies had put themselves in prime position for the upset; the four of us were cautiously optimistic and started creeping towards the court. When VCU hit the shot to tie the game, I couldn’t help but feel as though I had jinxed the entire SBU family. The rest they say, is history. Posley saved the Bonnies again, and six seconds later we found ourselves deep in a sea of students, surrounding the heroes of the day. I had never been in a position to storm the court before, but I was thankful for the moment….it was as if my own team had won the national championship. Strangers high-fived, fist-bumps were given, and the tone for the trip was set. It was easily one of the most exciting games I had seen in quite some time.

Fans extended the moment in the Rathskeller, looking back fondly on their time at SBU, and remembering what it is to be a Bonnie; to be the underdog who keeps fighting and doesn’t give-up, to look forward, never-back. Coach Schmidt echoed these sentiments at Milo’s over a celebratory beer with friends and family alike. Our night ended as the weekend started, at the Beef and Barrel, where, as Vinny alluded to, Shane spent his last moments of energy.

The Thursday night before we left, Shane sent a text; “I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve”. Ian seconded the notion. I didn’t quite understand how it could possibly compare, but after my experience this weekend the reference is fully comprehended. My trip to Bonaventure was my first, and certainly not my last. See you next year Olean.