It felt like the first uncontested bucket of the night for Saint Louis.

That’s because for the first 38 minutes of the Atlantic 10 semifinals, the Bonnies made sure nothing came easy for the Billikens.

No. 1 St. Bonaventure held its sixth straight opponent to fewer than 60 points and Osun Osunniyi had seven blocked shots as the Bonnies beat No. 4 Saint Louis, 71-53, at VCU’s Siegel Center.

“We really emphasize defense. Defense is going to lead to offense,” St. Bonaventure junior Jalen Adaway said. “We have so many talented players offensively that it’s going to come. Locking in on defense really opens things up and makes it a lot easier for us.”

St. Bonaventure’s Jalen Adaway puts down a dunk off a lob from Jaren Holmes during the second half of the Bonnies’ Atlantic 10 semifinal victory over Saint Louis on Saturday at VCU’s Siegel Center. Photos by Keith Lucas | Atlantic 10 Conference

The win vaults St. Bonaventure into next Sunday’s A-10 championship game against No. 2 VCU at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio.

“We wanted to make a statement to the league,” Bonnies junior Kyle Lofton said. ” … Two years ago (Saint Louis) sent us home. … We knew it was going to be a war because they are a great team, but we’re just as good.”

Adaway led the Bonnies with 17 points to go along with seven rebounds while Jaren Holmes had 15 points and seven rebounds. Lofton chipped in 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

“I thought Jalen Adaway played extremely well. He’s not the biggest guy, but I thought he defended the block really well. He scored for us in multiple ways,” St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said. “They really pressure the ball so you’re not going to get a lot of open 3s. You are going to get the mid-range game. I thought Kyle and Jaren did a great job of the pull-up game. It’s almost like the game that is forgotten.”

Goodwin led the Billikens with 11 points and Javonte Perkins had 10.

St. Bonaventure led by eight following a first half with its fair share of adversity.

Adaway suffered a nose injury during the Bonnies’ first offensive possession and went to the bench for nearly five minutes of action. Sophomore AJ Vasquez quickly entered and provided a jolt with back-to-back 3-pointers.

“I thought AJ Vasquez came in and gave us a huge lift,” Schmidt said. “Six points doesn’t seem like much, but he gave us a spark off the bench.”

Dominick Welch followed with a 3-pointer from Vasquez, but St. Bonaventure missed its next 12 3-point attempts carrying over into the second half.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the floor, Osunniyi was busy changing the game.

The 6-foot-10 center blocked five shots over the next six-plus minutes and by the time he went to the bench with 9:09 remaining, the Bonnies were leading 17-9.

“Shoon is incredible. I think he has the potential to be a pro right now,” Lofton said. ” … He has a great feel for the game.”

“Defensive Player of the Year,” Adaway interjected.

“Shoon was the difference. … From a defensive standpoint … when we make mistakes, he’s the one that corrects them,” Schmidt added. ” … Even when he didn’t block it, I think they knew he was here. They knew that he was around. He’s a special defensive player. There isn’t anybody better.”

The Billikens twice cut the deficit to as little as four, but by the end of the half the St. Bonaventure lead was back up to eight after back-to-back jumpers from Lofton.

Adaway scored 8 of the Bonnies’ first 10 points of the second half, including a dunk off a Holmes lob that put St. Bonaventure up 12 heading into the under-16-minute timeout.

Adaway later pushed the lead to 18 when he pulled off a spin move in the lane and hit a fadeaway jumper with just over 12 minutes remaining.

“Trust from my teammates and refusing to lose. We put in too much work to just give up,” Adaway said of the start of the second half. “We just dug deep. The team believed in each other and believed in me.”

St. Bonaventure eventually led by as many as 22 on a baseline dunk from Welch after a feed from Holmes to send the Bonnies well on their way to victory.

Now they’ll have a week to prepare for next Sunday’s tilt with the Commodores. The teams split two meetings this season with each winning on their home floor.

“You always want to play that third game here, but we understand that’s how it’s going,” Schmidt said. “We’ll go home, take a couple of days off and try to prepare as best we can for the team that we’re about to play.

“We’re just happy to be playing in the finals,” Schmidt added, “no matter if it’s out in the parking lot.”

NOTES: Sunday’s title game will tip off at 1 p.m. and be broadcast on CBS. … St. Bonaventure lost to Saint Louis in the 2019 A-10 championship game. Last year’s conference tournament was canceled due to COVID-19. … The Bonnies will be making their fifth trip to the title game. They are 1-3 in those games with their lone win coming in 2012.

SAINT LOUIS (53)

Perkins 5-11 0-0 10, French 2-8 0-0 4, Bell Jr. 1-2 0-0 2, Goodwin 3-9 4-6 11, Collins 0-4 1-2 1, Linssen 2-6 2-2 6, Jacobs 0-0 0-0 0, Thatch Jr. 2-4 3-4 7, Hargrove Jr. 1-2 0-0 3, Jimerson 3-6 0-0 9. Totals 19-52 10-14 53.

ST. BONAVENTURE (71)

Adaway 7-13 3-4 17, Osunniyi 4-5 0-0 8, Lofton 5-10 2-2 12, Welch 3-7 1-2 9, Holmes 4-13 6-6 15, Creal 1-1 0-0 2, Vasquez 2-6 0-0 6, Shaw 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 27-57 12-14 71.

Halftime–St. Bonaventure led, 33-25. 3-point goals–Saint Louis 5-17 (Perkins 0-4, Goodwin 1-3, Collins 0-2, Thatch Jr. 0-1, Hargrove Jr. 1-2, Jimerson 3-5), St. Bonaventure 5-21 (Adaway 0-4, Lofton 0-3, Welch 2-6, Holmes 1-4, Vasquez 2-4. Total rebounds–Saint Louis 27 (Goodwin 5), St. Bonaventure 35 (Lofton 10). Assists–Saint Louis 13 (Collins 9), St. Bonaventure 15 (Lofton 6). Total fouls–Saint Louis 16, St. Bonaventure 10.