A pair of surprise teams will meet Sunday afternoon for the 2019 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament championship when sixth-seeded Saint Louis takes on fourth-seeded St. Bonaventure. The Billikens (22-12) have won three in a row and seven of 10, while the Bonnies (18-15) have won 14 of 19 since starting the season 4-10. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. ET from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
St. Bonaventure won the lone regular-season meeting, 66-57 last week. St. Bonaventure is favored by 1 point in the latest Saint Louis vs. St. Bonaventure odds, while the over-under for total points scored is 119.5. Before making any Saint Louis vs. St. Bonaventure picks of your own, be sure to see what the SportsLine Projection Model has to say.
This model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, has raked in the winnings for those following its picks. During the past two years, the SportsLine Projection Model has returned over $4,000 to $100 players on its top-rated college basketball picks. It also entered Conference Championship Week on a strong 11-5 run on all top-rated college basketball picks. Anyone who has followed it is way up.
Now the model has dialed in on Saint Louis vs. St. Bonaventure. We can tell you it is leaning over, and it has a strong against-the-spread pick that cashes in well over 50 percent of simulations. That one is available only at SportsLine.
The model knows St. Bonaventure earned the No. 4 seed by finishing 12-6 in conference play and has secured its sixth winning season in a row. The Bonnies are looking for their first conference tournament championship since 2012 when they knocked off Xavier 67-56. They are 1-2 in Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament title games, losing to West Virginia in 1984 and Temple in 2000.
St. Bonaventure is led by first-team all-conference selection Courtney Stockard, who is averaging 15.6 points. Also helping to power the Bonnies into the championship game is freshman guard Kyle Lofton, who scored 23 Saturday against Rhode Island and 20 versus George Mason on Friday. He scored 14 points against the Billikens last week.
But just because St. Bonaventure has been red hot does not guarantee it will cover the A-10 title game spread against Saint Louis.
That's because the Billikens have also been coming on of late. Their 22 wins are the most since amassing 27 during the 2013-14 season, the last time they made the NCAA Tournament. Saint Louis, which joined the conference in 2005-06, has one Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament championship, a 62-56 victory against VCU in 2013. The Billikens have also qualified for the NCAA Tournament nine times.
This season, Saint Louis finished 10-8 in conference play to tie Duquesne for sixth place. The Billikens are led by senior guard Javon Bess, the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year and a second team all-conference selection. He has come up big in the A-10 Tournament, scoring 15 against Dayton on Friday and following that up with 24 points against Davidson on Saturday.
So who wins Saint Louis vs. St. Bonaventure? And which side of the spread can you bank on in well over 50 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Saint Louis vs. St. Bonaventure spread to jump on, all from the advanced model that is up more than $4,000 on its college basketball picks, and find out.
