St. Bonaventure and Davidson just played the game of the year

You can keep your Miami vs. North Carolina buzzer-beater. Yeah, that was fun and all, but it was a mere appetizer for the classic that Davidson and St. Bonaventure treated us to on Tuesday night.

Ultimately, the Bonnies prevailed, 117-113, in three riveting, exhausting overtimes. Seven players fouled out. Five scored at least 30 points. The teams combined to take 75 threes.

Every run was answered and every momentum shift immediately corrected. From the final five minutes of regulation until the end, there was not a second that disappointed.

The only reason it even got to overtime is because Peyton Aldridge, an 85 percent free throw shooter, split a pair with 18 seconds to go in regulation. That meant that LaDarien Griffin’s layup with five seconds to go was enough to tie the game at 78-78.

Then overtime happened and Kellan Grady got to the line with three seconds to go and hit two free throws for Davidson to tie it at 91.

The second overtime is where things started to get weird in the way that these marathon games tend to get. St. Bonaventure scored the first five points of the period, then Davidson scored the next five points. Bona’s Courtney Stockard responded with a three-point play, then Davidson’s Jon Axel Gudmundsson hit two free throws. Gudmundsson got to the line on a questionable fifth foul call on the Bonnies’ leader, Jaylen Adams, and it seemed like that would be the turning point. Adams left with 34 points.

The Bonnies held on for the last 1:34 of the second overtime and the two teams headed into the third tied at 100.

That’s where it appeared to even up as Peyton Aldridge fouled out. He led Davidson with a career-high 45 points. But Courtney Stockard and Idris Taqqee also fouled out. If the Bonnies were to win, it would have to be Matt Mobley and the reserves.

And Mobley did absolutely everything he could. He scored 33 points, including 11 in the third overtime, nine of those coming at the line.

From here, the Bonnies will finish their regular season at Saint Louis. A win and they will finish alone in second in the Atlantic 10. Davidson hosts Rhode Island in its finale. If the Wildcats end up tied with St. Bonaventure, then I’m too tired right now to figure out the tie-breaker. They split their season series and would have both beaten URI. Someone tell me. I’m going to bed.