<p>DAYTON, Ohio — Kyle Lofton scored 23 points and Osun Osunniyi scored 14 points with 12 rebounds and St. Bonaventure beat VCU 74-65 on Sunday in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.</p>
<p>St. Bonaventure (16-4) entered the A-10 tournament as the conference’s top seed after clinching the regular season crown. The Rams (19-7) were seeded No. 2 and now will have to await its NCAA Tournament fate, hoping for an at-large bid.</p>
<p>The Bonnie’s Alejandro Vasquez buried a 3-pointer with 11:36 before halftime to break a tie at 12 and St. Bonaventure led the rest of the way.</p>
<p>VCU’s Josh Banks made 1 of 2 foul shots to reduce the Bonnies’ lead to 27-22 with 4:33 remaining before the break. Both teams struggled shooting to close the half and St. Bonaventure went to halftime up 32-25.</p>
<p>The game’s turning point occurred when Lofton buried a jump shot and followed with a 3-pointer to make it 46-34 with 12:03 remaining.</p>
<p>Shortly after, a light scrum started between the two squads and VCU’s Hason Ward and the Bonnie’s Dominick Welch each received technical fouls. That followed Adrian Baldwin Jr.’s foul on Lofton’s 3 attempt. When the dust settled, Lofton made five straight free throws for a 51-36 advantage with 11:26 left and the Bonnies stayed in control for the remainder.</p>
<p>VCU closed within seven points on four occasions but couldn’t get closer.</p>
<p>Welch scored 13 points for the Bonnies and Jalen Adaway 10.</p>
<p>Nah’Shon Hyland scored 21 points for VCU, Vince Williams 12 and Banks 10.</p>
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