Mar 25, 2022

The St. Bonaventure Athletics Department and Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce invite the entire community to campus this Sunday, March 27, to send the Bonnies off to New York City.

With a 52-51 victory at Virginia Tuesday night, Bona advanced to the NIT semifinals Tuesday at Madison Square Garden against Xavier, a winner over Vanderbilt in other quarterfinal action. The road that began in Colorado, continued in Oklahoma, and then led the Brown and White to Virginia will culminate in New York City.

The team will board their bus in the lot between Reilly Center and Richter Center and travel to East Union Street, to First Street and then through the village of Allegany, continuing on Route 417 to the main roundabout in Olean, proceeding on North Union Street to exit 26 to I-86.

How can you support your Bonnies? Three options: before the team departs campus at 11:15 a.m., Coach Mark Schmidt and the team will be cheered on by those in attendance at this pep rally.  Coach will say a few words and then they will caravan throughout the route.

The other two options to cheer the team as they head to New York are downtown Olean in front of the City Building and the Olean Center Mall front parking lot. With the departure from campus at 11:15 a.m., the caravan should come through Olean around 11:30 to 11:45 a.m.; people should report at 11:15 to the two spots in Olean. 

Bona Backer Signs will be printed and handed out at all three locations Sunday courtesy of Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce.

The National Invitation Tournament’s Final Four will take place inside the world’s most famous arena: New York City’s Madison Square Garden. The Garden has hosted NIT games since the tourney’s inception in the 1930s; 2020 (canceled) and 2021 (Texas) were the first years the event didn’t take place at MSG due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Xavier plays St. Bonaventure at 7 p.m., with the nightcap of Texas A&M vs. Washington State at 9:30 p.m.

With their respective wins in the NIT, St. Bonaventure improves to 23-9 while Xavier sits at 21-13.  For more information, please contact GOACC at 716-372-4433 or email info@oleanny.com