But the Bonnies had been suffering from a much bigger loss all day long.

Dr. Dennis DePerro, university president, passed away overnight Sunday after a battle with COVID-19. He was 62 years old.

“Not only did we lose our president — we lost a great man. I’m heart-broken for (his wife) Sherry and the boys. He was a great man and a great leader,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said. “He did amazing things here in his short stay. He was a blue-collar guy. … He was a guy you could drink a beer with. He was a friend. … He really supported athletics and, in particular, men’s basketball.”

His loss was felt by all members of the campus, including the Department of Athletics.

Photo Courtesy of Jerome Trass St. Bonaventure’s Dominick Welch (1) battles for a loose ball during Monday’s Atlantic 10 Conference basketball game against Dayton at the Reilly Center.

“It was shock more than anything else. We all knew he had been in the hospital for a period of time, but you all had the good hope that he would ease himself out of it,” said Tim Kenney, St. Bonaventure athletic director. ” … When they found out he had passed away, there was shock in the sense that a lot of the student-athletes that I saw today couldn’t believe it. … They didn’t want to believe it, because they knew him.”

Schmidt had a close relationship with Dr. DePerro.

“He knew how important athletics is to this university. He understood how important basketball is to this university,” Schmidt said. “He was as supportive as any person on this campus. … When the top guy believes in athletics and its mission … believes in basketball and its importance, then you are in a good spot.”

Kenney said there was no real thought given to postponing or cancelling Monday’s game.

“We talked about it for a split second, should we play?” Kenney said. “The first thought that came to mind was him. I could picture him sitting on my shoulder going, ‘What are you doing, you idiot? You gotta play. … Don’t stop because of me.’ … Could we have canceled it? Possibly. But we thought it would be better to honor him right now.”

St. Bonaventure led 27-26 at halftime and had a chance to at least tie the game at the end, despite playing one of its worst games offensively all season. The Bonnies were 18 of 60 (30.0%) from the floor, including 7 of 24 (29.2%) from 3-point range.

“We’re not in this business to make excuses. Our job is to go out there and play as well as we can,” Schmidt said. “… Four games in nine days is a lot to ask, but at the same time give Dayton credit.”

St. Bonaventure was able to score 22 points off of 21 Dayton turnovers, but the Flyers won the battle in the paint (24-20) and on fast breaks, where the Bonnies scored just 4 points.

Dayton star Jalen Crutcher was in foul trouble all evening and scored just 6 points on 2-of-9 shooting, and the Flyers had just one player — Ibi Watson — in double figures with 14 points.

Adaway finished with 17 points to lead St. Bonaventure while Osun Osunniyi was also a bright spot with 10 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots, despite appearing to roll his ankle early in the second half.

Dayton led by nine for a long stretch in the middle of the second half before the Bonnies began to chip away. Kyle Lofton hit a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to seven and later Adaway hit a 3-pointer to make it a four-point game.

Dominick Welch’s 3-pointer with 3:05 remaining made it a two-point game and Lofton followed a Jordy Tshimanga layup with a mid-range jumper to make it 54-52.

Watson then hit a free throw to make it a three-point game before Adaway missed a jumper and a subsequent 3-point attempt. With more than 30 seconds remaining, Schmidt elected to rely on his defense instead of fouling and his players rewarded him by forcing a shot-clock violation to get the ball back with 10 seconds remaining.

Lofton brought the ball up court and eventually found Adaway rolling off a screen, but his tying attempt missed to send Dayton to its 13th win of the season.

“I thought we had a great look with Jalen. … We run those special plays. In terms of getting an open look, I thought we got the look that we wanted,” Schmidt said. “They knew we needed to hit a 3, so it’s always hard to get really open looks. I thought that was a really good look. He made a good stroke on it, he just missed it.”

Now the Bonnies, as the Atlantic 10’s No. 1 seed, will await their 11 a.m. Friday quarterfinal opponent.

“This season now is in tribute to Dr. DePerro and all of the things he’s done for us. … He was one of us,” Schmidt said. ” … There are a lot of people that don’t get it, but he got it. He understood what this place is all about.

“We lost a great man,” Schmidt added. “He’s going to be hard to replace.”

NOTES: St. Bonaventure’s second-leading scorer Jaren Holmes had just his second scoreless game of the season. He also failed to score Dec. 30 at Rhode Island. … Lofton had six assists to pass David Vanterpool for eighth on the Bonnies’ all-time list. … Welch hit a pair of 3-pointers to tie Marcus Posley and Tyler Relph for ninth in program history with 158 … St. Bonaventure (8-1 at home) just missed out becoming the first team to go undefeated at home since the 1976-77 NIT championship team.

DAYTON (55)

Blakney 3-4 2-2 9, Tshimanga 2-4 1-2 5, Chatman 2-6 0-0 4, Watson 5-7 2-5 14, Crutcher 2-9 2-4 6, Brea 1-2 0-0 3, Weaver 1-2 0-0 2, Nwokeji 1-5 0-0 3, Amzil 3-3 2-2 9. Totals 20-44 9-15 55.

ST. BONAVENTURE (52)

Adaway 7-15 0-1 17, Osunniyi 4-9 2-4 10, Lofton 3-12 2-2 9, Welch 3-11 0-0 8, Holmes 0-7 0-0 0, Vasquez 1-6 5-6 8, Shaw 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-60 9-13 52.

Halftime–St. Bonaventure led, 27-26. 3-point goals–Dayton 6-12 (Blakney 1-2, Chatman 0-1, Watson 2-3, Brea 1-3, Nwokeji 1-2, Amzil 1-1); St. Bonaventure 7-24 (Adaway 3-7, Lofton 1-5, Welch 2-7, Holmes 0-2, Vasquez 1-3. Total rebounds–Dayton 36 (Tshimanga 7); St. Bonaventure 32 (Osunniyi 15). Assists–Dayton 10 (Crutcher 5); St. Bonaventure 12 (Lofton 6). Total fouls–Dayton 18, St. Bonaventure 14. Technical fouls–St. Bonaventure 1 (Lofton).