St. Bonaventure fails to survive visit to the Sharks tank

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Can’t imagine my colleague Austin Knoblauch made many friends over in Malibu this week, not after this blog found its way on to the Internet. Actually, it was more like a poll, one in which he mentioned the possibility of St. Bonaventure and Fillmore winning a Southern Section boys’ basketball title but gave the Sharks no love.

Or maybe Knobs was simply using reverse psychology. Whatever the case, it worked. Malibu played inspired Wednesday, defeating the visiting Seraphs, 55-54, in a Frontier League game. Yes, I’m talking about the same St. Bonaventure team currently top-ranked in Division V-A. No doubt, this upset will shake up the top 10 next week. Apparently, the Sharks should not be overlooked.

‘We love when people underestimate us,’’ said Malibu senior Chris Peck, who scored 15 points, none bigger than two free-throws with less than 10 seconds left on the clock. ‘St. Bonaventure thought they could come in and win on our court, in front of our fans in the Shark Tank. Wonder what they thought when everyone in the student section, all the people in the Black Sea, went crazy after the game.’’

The victory is important on a number of levels for Malibu, which clinched sole possession of second place in league, all but assuring a top three seed for the postseason. With a loss, the Sharks would have dropped to third place and received a far less favorable draw for the playoffs. Guess in a roundabout way, Knobs is owed a thank you for his bulletin-board material.

-- Sean Ceglinsky