The first one , for St. Bonaventure, was worth the wait. The Bonnies led wire to wire, posting an 81-74 victory over Akron at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. The Bonnies’ next contest is Saturday at the Reilly Center hen they entertain Hofstra,
The numbers:
Possessions: 77
Offensive efficiency: St. Bona 105 Akron 96
The possessions are on the misleading side. It was not a run and gun pace as a 77 possession tempo would suggest. Akron’s (now 1-1), late game fouling played a part in giving us a higher figure in the possession column.
Bona enjoyed an advantage on both ends of the floor in the efficiency category. An offense over 100 and defense under the century mark is a team’s objective. For Mark Schmidt’s group, mission accomplished.
Bonnies had postponements in Mohegan Sun (four games) and last Saturday (St. Francis (PA)) due to Covid-19. They showed no significant signs of rust yesterday especially on the offensive end. Credit Schmidt for keeping the team focused and prepared when the ball was finally tossed up to start their season.
Bonnies had only 10 turnovers and an outstanding 13% TO rate (you aspire to be under 20% in that category. Akron had 17 turnovers for a 22% rate.
The shooting from three saw the Bonnies come in at 7, yes 7, percent. Akron had their own problems going 6 of 32 for 19%.
Player of the game: According to Kenpom and in total agreement here, Osun Osunniyi. The Bonnies’ 6-10 junior scored a game high 25 points while grabbing 8 boards and handling out three assists. ‘Double O’ showed a nice jump hook in the lane on several occasions.
Leading the way for Akron was Loren Christian Jackson , the 2020 MAC Player of the Year, with 17 points 7 assists.
Kyle Lofton logged 39 minutes for the Bonnies, playing an outstanding floor game. Lofton scored 17 points while handing out 5 assists.
Dominick Welch added 18 points. The junior swingman hit Bona’s lone three pointer going 1 of 6 from deep. Welch’s strength on this afternoon was his ability to break down defenses and attack the basket off the dribble.
Yet another Bonnie junior, Jaren Homes, added a solid 9 points 3 assists while doing things that do not show up in the box score.
In preseason Mark Schmidt alluded to his group of juniors saying they logged so many minutes their first two seasons that they were like fifth year seniors in terms of experience.
That experience showed throughout the contest as the Bonnies played with poise and purpose. They did a good job decision wise in closing the game out to earn the victory.
