If you thought the ending to the St. Bonaventure and VCU men's basketball game was crazy Saturday night, Sunday brought even more confusion.
24 hours after issuing a statement in which the Atlantic 10 Conference sided with officials for assessing a technical foul to the Bonnies and awarding the Rams with a free-throw after fans stormed the court, the league issued a new statement saying the tech was, "inaccurately associated with SBU students" and the foul was awarded for "multiple reasons."
After Matt Mobley hit what looked to be the game winning 3-pointer with .4 seconds on the clock to give Bona a 66-65 lead over VCU mass chaos ensued at the Reilly Center.
A fan ran onto the court and into an official. Another grabbed a ball and began walking away with it. Bona's bench poured on the floor -- and fans followed as the Rams missed a last second heave to potentially win the game.
According to the league, fans stormed the court after the clock hit :00.
"As a result of this misrepresentation of the administrative technical foul assessed to St. Bonaventure, which reflected poorly on the SBU student body, the officiating crew will be disciplined for not immediately stopping the game for disruption of play."
The Atlantic 10 has released a statement on the end of yesterday’s bizarre VCU-St. Bonaventure game.https://t.co/s1XYYwGoKB
Here it is: pic.twitter.com/3L42na27q5— Gary Parrish (@GaryParrishCBS) February 5, 2017
There are no "redos" in this one, and what should have been a major win to help bolster their NCAA Tournament resume goes into the loss column with an 83-77 setback to VCU.
Nick's Take
If the students don't rush the court, we're not talking or debating the merit of a technical foul and the aftermath. The Bonnies probably win and Matt Mobley isn't robbed of his moment.
I'm not a fan of rushing the court. I never have been.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I rushed the court when Nebraska beat 20th Creighton for the first time since 1998. It was one of the stupidest things I've ever done, and I've done my share of dumb things in my 30 years of life (ask my mom).
Primarily, it's a safety issue. There have been on court incidents resulting in fights and injuries when fans pour onto the hardwood. It's nothing new and it was a hot button issue nearly a year ago betweenArizona and Colorado.
In 2015 thePac-12 Conference implemented new fines that went into place this seasons for fan incidents. Programs are fined $25,000, $50,000 and $100,000 when fans rush the court or the field during events.
The South Eastern Conference stiffened their penalties, going from a $5,000 for the first time fan storming offenses to slapping programs with a $50,000 fine.
Second, it's VCU. I mean, really? For VCU? Not Duke. Not Kansas. Not North Carolina or even Kentucky. But for VCU. Had the Bonnies played Duke, KU, UNC or UK, I'd feel the same way.
Third: Rushing the court for a win* over an unranked team? Come on.
This was a comedy of errors -- from the fans, officiating and to the A-10 walking back on their own statement.
BUT, it goes back to what I said at the start: The fans shouldn't have been on the court to begin with.
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