A planned 15-minute sit down at the micro-film station to rehash the 1969-70 St. Bonaventure basketball season turned into so much more.

Deep into the night, the images, the words passed by. It didnÞt seem to matter that a 6 a.m. wake-up was coming. Fifteen minutes turned into two hours.

There was a consuming factor that I hadnÞt quite felt before. I laid awake in bed and wondered what it must have been like to be in Olean during the Brown Indians magical run to the Final Four.

Talk to anyone in these parts who lived through it, talk to any of the players, any of the coaches … to all there was and still is no doubt Bona was the best team in the country that year.

Taking a neutral view, there are several logical reasons that would conclude the Brown Indians would have fallen short of a national title, even if All-American Bob Lanier didnÞt suffer a significant knee injury in the Eastern Regional final, a win over Villanova that propelled Bona to the Final Four.

UCLA would go on to take the championship, one of 10 in 11 years. Under the legendary John Wooden, the Bruins were the most dominant collection of talent over an extended period in the history of college basketball.

In truth, UCLA had no one who could stop the 6-11 Lanier. In fact, no one in the country could contain the future NBA Hall of Famer.

Lanier alone would have given the Brown Indians a chance to dethrone the powerful Bruins. Compare the rosters straight up, however, and there is just as much proof UCLA would have prevailed.

Still, chatting with former players like Billy Kalbaugh, Mike Kull, Paul Hoffman and coach Larry Weise, the 1969-70 group was the ultimate team ã no egos, no sour grapes, just a special camaraderie, regardless of talent that may not have matched UCLA stars like Sidney Wicks and Henry Bibby.

It can be argued that Lanier possessed the most selfless persona of them all. When Louisiana StateÞs Pete Maravich was hailed the nationÞs best player by United Press International, Lanier basically indicated he wasnÞt worthy of the honor, giving credence to the team concept.

Based on the vivid accounts of former TH sports writers Bob Davies and Chuck Ward, the Bona players didnÞt sulk or give up on the dream when Lanier went down. Instead, they came closer together, and in effect, nearly downed Jacksonville in the Final Four.

In researching the season, the single most important factor in the Brown IndiansÞ success wasnÞt Lanier, but the fact that every player believed they were a part of the best team in the country.

The fans believed too.

Far before, a convincing win over Duquesne in a packed-to-the-rafters University Center (now the Reilly Center). Far before a title in the prestigious Holiday Festival at Madison Garden via a win over Purdue and the sharp-shooting Rick Mount. And far before a drubbing of Calvin MurphyÞs Niagara team on senior night.

With Lanier down for the count, the Bona faithful stormed the Union-State Street intersection of Olean to welcome back the Brown Indians from the win over Villanova in South Carolina. The dream was still clearly alive.

In all truth the dream hasnÞt died.

The chance of the Bonnies ever taking the college basketball by storm as they did in Ý70 is slim and none. But try telling that to any Bona fan who ventured out into the blustery cold to the Reilly Center last winter for what most of us would consider a lost cause.

The Final Four season is 35 years in the past, a chapter of the book that has yet to be completed and will never be complete.

Maybe thatÞs why the recollections from those who lived it are littered with so much detail. Maybe thatÞs why stories from that season will never subside.

Maybe thatÞs why I lie awake at night, my mind wandering through the sands of time, back to a winter IÞll never fully comprehend without having lived it.

(Vinny Pezzimenti is a Times Herald sports writer)