Saturdays have not been too kind for St. Bonaventure in A10 play. This past Saturday the Bonnies dropped a 69-60 decision at George Mason. The loss left the Bonnies at 11-6 (2-3) while the Patriots, snapped a three game slide, improving to 14-5 (3-3). All three of the Bonaventure conference losses have been on consecutive Saturdays-at Richmond, home against Fordham and now at George Mason.
Possessions: 65. A grind it out ‘rock fight’ pace.
Offensive efficiency: G. Mason 106, St. Bona 92. A sub par showing for the Bonnies, per metrics and ‘eye test’ on both the offensive and defensive ends.
Four Factors:
| St. Bona | G. Mason | |
| eFG Pct. | 42 | 54 |
| FT Rate | 20 | 50 |
| OREB Pct. | 32 | 32 |
| TO Rate | 19 | 22 |
Offensive woes. Quite a difference from Mark Schmidt’s group as compared to Wednesday night. The Bonnies did not hit a field goal for nearly the first four minutes of the contest. They shot 28% the first half and were fortunate to be down by only six at the break.
Second half saw the Bonnies embark on a 21-5 run giving them a five point lead with just under 12 minutes to play. The tide soon changed. Ahead five and coming out of a time out, Bonaventure turned the ball over. That ignited an 11-0 run by the Patriots. In the stretch it was a two possession game. The Bonnies could not get any closer and George Mason closed the contest out.
“We didn’t get off to a good start,” Schmidt told gobonnies.com. “We also didn’t start well the second half and came back to take the lead. It was a game of spurts. We had some fight in us. but weren’t consistent. Ultimately you need consistency in execution and we didn’t have that.”
Here is a look at the offensive efficiency and results of the Bonnies’ five conference games.
| Offensive Eff. | Result | |
| VCU | 129 | Win |
| Richmond | 87 | Loss |
| Fordham | 104 | Loss |
| Rhode Island | 136 | Win |
| George Mason | 92 | Loss |
The only loss the Bonnies hit triple digits in efficiency was against Fordham. Didn’t help allowing the Rams to go for a 113 efficiency on their end that day. The other two losses, decidedly below the Bonnies average efficiency of 111 in A10 play. As Schmidt noted, you need consistency. Not just in a single game but the season as well.
Chad Venning led the Bonnies with a game high 17 points. The Bona big man faced double teaming virtually all game. Venning also grabbed seven rebounds. Mika Adams-Woods was the Bonnies only other double figure scorer with 14 points. Amari Kelly and Keyshawn Hall tied for scoring honors on Tony Skinn’s Patriots with 13 points each. Hall added a team high eight rebounds. Bonaventure’s Barry Evans pulled down a game high nine boards (three on the offensive end).
Kenpom.com MVP: Amari Kelly, G. Mason. The 6’9” senior scored 13 points with seven rebounds (three offensive).
Notes: Bonnies shot 44% the second half. That allowed them to finish at a 36% rate. George Mason hit for 47% on the afternoon. Both teams knocked down seven three pointers. Bonnies were 7 of 25 (28%) from long distance while George Mason was 7 for 21 (33%).
Mason is 10-1 at home this season. The lone loss was to VCU in early January. Patriots have won 24 of their last 27 inside EagleBank Arena.
Bonnies forced George Mason into a turnover rate exceeding 20%. In the end they only held a 20-19 advantage in points off turnovers against the Patriots.
George Mason held a 20-11 edge in bench points.
Next up for the Bonnies is a trip to the Steel City to battle Duquesne. Keith Dambrot’s Dukes are winless in A10 play having dropped five consecutive games. They came up short 71-69 Saturday at Saint Joseph’s.
“We seem to have a hard time creating things off the bounce. This was a game we certainly had our opportunities.” – Mark Schmidt
