Five in a row. St. Bonaventure scored a resounding 81-55 decision over Duquesne Saturday at the Reilly Center. The Bonnies (17-7), winners of five straight games, are now 9-4 in the A10. Duquesne (6-19) dropped their 12th straight and is now 1-12 in A10 play.
Possessions: 66- Moderate tempo, right in the range of both teams.
Offensive Efficiency: St. Bonaventure 123, Duquesne 83. Field goal shooting told a great deal regarding the respective offensive efficiency. Bonnies shot 60% from two point range and 35% (6 of 17) from three. Duquesne struggled inside (42% shooting) and a 5 of 21 (24%) from three was not the answer.
TO rate: Duquesne 15%, St. Bonaventure 18%. Looking over the numbers it was difficult to ascertain what Duquesne did well. The silver lining was committing only ten turnovers for a better than average TO rate. Bona was under that 20% cutoff as well.
In the late January 64-56 win over Duquesne in Pittsburgh, Bona enjoyed a double digit halftime lead only to see the Dukes come out strong and make a serious second half challenge. Bona coach Mark Schmidt was determined not to let that happen again. Play a full forty minutes and do not take Duquesne lightly. Bonnies got the message and carried out Schmidt’s objective. Bona enjoyed a 39-22 halftime lead and instantly expanded it after intermission. With just over eight minutes remaining the Bonnies led by 36. The only remaining mystery would be the final margin.
Bona had three double digit scorers led by Jalen Adaway with 21 points. Osun Osunniyi enjoyed an 18 point collecting his 1,000th career point in the process, 10 rebound double-double. ‘Shun’ shot a perfect seven of seven from the field and four of four from the line. Dominick Welch added 16 with three of seven shooting from deep. Leon Ayers came off the bench to score 12 points as Duquesne’s lone double figure scorer.
Duquesne, normally strong on the boards, was out rebounded 42-25. Bona secured 11 rebounds on the offensive end, leading to a 15-8 edge in second chance points and 42-25 advantage on points in the paint.
Tough times for Keith Dambrot. His fifth year at Duquesne has been a struggle. Dambrot’s best seasons were 2019 (19-13) and 2020 (21-9). There was no postseason invite after ‘19. In ‘20 Duquesne could have been in line for one but with Covid rearing its ugly head the entire season was shut down the second day of the A10 Tournament.
This season Duquesne has not been in the win column since they opened conference play with a win at UMass back on January 8th. Roster turnover hit the Dukes during the offseason and this year they put one of the youngest teams, experience wise, on the court.
Nothing is certain regarding his future. Dambrot’s late father was a key player for the Dukes during their glory days. From day one Dambrot has worked tirelessly and wanted nothing more than to turn around the Duquesne program and restore those glory days. It’s been a rough go of late. Unfortunately (hopefully not) the clock could be ticking.
Bonnies close out the four game homestand entertaining Rhode Island on Tuesday. Duquesne hosts Davidson on Wednesday.
“Our guys are mature. The season is coming to end and you have to play your best, play with a sense of urgency. We couldn’t play any better than today. Duquesne has struggled but they played Davidson and VCU tough. They do not quit. We continue to just play. A season has high points and low points just have to keep an even keel. The season is long. You can’t base everything on one or two weeks. We just have to keep working individually and as a team.” – Mark Schmidt
