Senior Night. A truly special night and celebration. A double-bye in the A10 Tournament. It was all on the line, and the Bonnies responded. St. Bonaventure defeated Richmond 72-65 Friday night at Reilly Center. The Bonnies (20-8) wrap up their A10 regular season at 12-5. Richmond (19-12) finish at 10-8. Notes and thoughts…
Possessions: 64- Right in the Bona comfort zone. A moderate tempo.
Offensive efficiency: St. Bonaventure 112, Richmond 102
TO rate: St. Bonaventure 13%, Richmond 17%. This stat was significant. All the other statistics saw the two teams relatively close. This one is also. The major factor here is Richmond has the all-time NCAA steals leader in Jacob Gilyard, a disruptive defensive force. On this night Bona committed just 8 turnovers and Gilyard had but one steal.
eFG%– St. Bonaventure 55, Richmond 50. Bona shot 62% inside and 31% from beyond the arc. Richmond’s figures were 60% (two point range) and 26% from three.
Halftime saw the game tied at 35. On the night there were 15 ties and 14 lead changes. A second half 10-0 Bona run created the separation Mark Schmidt’s team needed. It was a three possession game in the final five minutes. Jaren Holmes’ ended any hint of a Richmond comeback with a drive to the hoop, giving Bona a nine point edge with just under three minutes remaining.
Jalen Adaway and Richmond’s Tyler Burton shared scoring honors with 21 points each. In the Bonnies’ loss at Richmond, Burton erupted for 36. In this rematch he was kept a little closer in check and was the lone double figure scorer for Chris Mooney’s Spiders. Bona had four in double digits. Joining Adaway was Osun Osunniyi (16 Points), Kyle Lofton (15) and Holmes (13).
A warrior. Osunniyi played through discomfort in the ankle he injured a week ago. The Bona center added 6 boards and 3 blocks to his 16 points. In the process he blocked his 290th career shot to become the Bonnies’ all time leader in that department. Osunniyi surpassed the mark set by Caswell Cyrus ‘00.
Bonnies finished in the top five of the A10 for the seventh consecutive year. The senior class also had a host of memorable accomplishments. In 2021 they captured the A10 regular season and tournament championships for the first time in program history. A national ranking this season for the first time since 1971. A four year conference winning percentage better than 68 percent and a 2019 run-up finish in the A10 tournament. That is part of the story on the court. On and off the court they carry themselves with class and represent the school in an exemplary manner.
“It was a special night to honor a special group,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt told gobonnies.com. “Twenty wins is the magical number. We wanted to win outright and get the four seed based on what we did here tonight. We didn’t want to sneak in or go in the back door, we wanted to do it ourselves.”
Each of the seniors has the option to return another year due to an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the pandemic. On this night there was no talk of this. That can wait until further down the road. With the regular season over, job one and the focus is on the postseason. For the Bonnies it all begins on Friday in our nation’s capital.
Bona earned the four seed and double-bye in the A10 Tournament. Bonnies will play Friday March 11 at 2:30 pm. Could be a third meeting with Travis Ford and co. Bonnies will play the winner of fifth-seeded Saint Louis and the winner of first round opponents La Salle and Saint Joseph’s.
