Photo courtesy of Mitchell Leff | Atlantic 10 St. Bonaventure’s Osun Osunniyi gestures during the Bonnies’ 57-56 loss to Saint Louis in the Atlantic 10 conference tournament quarterfinals Friday in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — At the end of a back-and-forth battle between two of the Atlantic 10’s top squads, Saint Louis would be left standing with a 57-56 victory over St. Bonaventure on Friday afternoon in the conference quarterfinals at Capital One Arena.

St. Bonaventure (20-9) rallied from 10 points down with 11 minutes left, grabbing the lead on a bucket in the lane from Osun Osunniyi with 1:24 to play.

In a game where defense prevailed, both teams had chances in the final minute, but it was finally a jumper from Gibson Jimerson with 17 seconds that proved to be the game-winner.

As the seconds went to zero, a runner in the lane for the lead by the Bonnies fell short, kicking an offensive rebound to Bona and allowing for a pair of free throws with just 1.8 seconds showing on the clock as the Billikens were whistled for a foul.

Unfortunately for the Bonnies, both free throw efforts failed, leaving the defending A-10 champions shell-shocked as the final buzzer sounded.

Jalen Adaway produced another star-worthy effort of 18 points, leading the Brown and White on a day where offense proved hard to come by.

There appeared to be a lid on the basket for much of the early going — for both teams.

The Bonnies opened 1 for 12 from the floor with just two points over the opening seven minutes, but remained in the game thanks to a defensive effort that kept the game at a 6-2 score during that span.

Bona moved ahead, but a 12-2 run from the Billikens allowed Saint Louis to take a 26-22 lead to intermission.

SLU scored the first bucket out of the break, but Kyle Lofton then sparked an 8-0 run from Bona to retake the lead, 30-28, three and a half minutes into the second half.

After a quick back-and-forth, the Billikens regained momentum as they surged ahead with six straight successful field goal tries, capped by a Jimerson trey for a 47-37 cushion with 11 minutes left.

Adaway would spark the Bonnies’ comeback, draining a pair of threes to close within 49-48 as SLU went scoreless for over four minutes as the clock ticked down toward five minutes remaining.

Down four with four to play, a pull-up three from Dominick Welch brought the Bonnies within a point. Osunniyi put Bona’s ahead, 53-52, with 2:02 left as the stage was set for the last two minutes.

Jimerson led all scorers with 20 points for the Billikens who advance to play top-seeded Davidson in Saturday’s semifinals.

NOTES: The Bonnies now await word on any potential postseason bid Sunday night. … Welch posted 14 points and seven rebounds while Lofton finished with 10 points and four assists. … Bona forced 17 Billikens turnovers, but could turn those into only 14 points. The Billikens led on the boards, 40-31, and registered 15 second-chance points.

Saint Louis 57, St. Bonaventure 56

SAINT LOUIS (23-10)

Okoro 5-7 4-4 14, Collins 4-13 3-4 11, Jimerson 7-14 0-0 20, Nesbitt 0-8 0-0 0, Thatch 4-9 0-0 8, Hargrove 1-2 0-0 2, Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Linssen 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 22-56 7-8 57.

ST. BONAVENTURE (20-9)

Osunniyi 2-2 2-5 6, Adaway 7-17 1-1 18, Holmes 2-13 0-0 4, Lofton 5-15 0-2 10, Welch 6-11 0-0 14, Coulibaly 2-5 0-0 4, Adams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-63 3-8 56.

Halftime–Saint Louis 26-22. 3-Point Goals–Saint Louis 6-14 (Jimerson 6-9, Collins 0-1, Hargrove 0-1, Jones 0-1, Nesbitt 0-2), St. Bonaventure 5-20 (Adaway 3-6, Welch 2-6, Holmes 0-4, Lofton 0-4). Rebounds–Saint Louis 34 (Okoro 12), St. Bonaventure 27 (Osunniyi 9). Assists–Saint Louis 11 (Collins 9), St. Bonaventure 14 (Osunniyi, Lofton 4). Total Fouls–Saint Louis 16, St. Bonaventure 11. A–5,894 (20,356).