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Atlantic 10 reviewing controversial ending to La Salle-St. Bonaventure game

Video replay shows the clock started too early on La Salle's final play.

Ashley Howard's La Salle team lost in a controversial ending Wednesday night.
Ashley Howard's La Salle team lost in a controversial ending Wednesday night.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer

The Atlantic 10 has announced that it is reviewing the ending of the St. Bonaventure-La Salle game Wednesday night, when video replay showed that the clock started too quickly on the Explorers’ final possession.

Trailing by 62-60, La Salle inbounded the ball from under its basket with 3.1 seconds remaining. The clock started running as David Beatty was making the inbounds pass, which went three-quarters-court to teammate Ed Croswell.

The clock should have started when Croswell touched the ball, but when he did, just 1.1 seconds remained. The ball was tipped to La Salle’s Pookie Powell in the right corner. Powell heard the buzzer and heaved a wild shot that fell way short and wouldn’t have counted anyway.

The officials looked at the monitor for a few minutes and upheld the St. Bonaventure win.

Thursday, the Atlantic 10 issued this statement:

“The Atlantic 10 is aware of the timing issue that occurred at the end of the La Salle-St. Bonaventure game on Wednesday. The league is reviewing the situation with the involved institutions and the conference coordinator of officials. Insuring that the officials applied the rules of the game correctly is our top priority in protecting fair play and the integrity of the game.”

Atlantic 10 assistant commissioner Drew Dickerson said Thursday afternoon that “the league is going with the original statement. If we have an update, we will send it out.”

La Salle athletic director Bill Bradshaw said on Thursday he will withhold comment until given a final explanation from the Atlantic 10.