St. Bonaventure bounced back from Wednesday’s setback at La Salle in a huge way. The Bonnies defeated UMass 75-67 Saturday at the Mullins Center. The win improved the Bonnies’ record to 17-10 (8-7) while Frank Martin’s Minutemen now have an identical overall and conference record.
Possessions: 66
Offensive efficiency: St. Bona 114, UMass 102
Numbers (Four Factors in bold)
| St. Bona | UMass | |
| eFG Pct. | 53 | 47 |
| FT Rate | 33 | 39 |
| OREB Pct. | 39 | 35 |
| TO Rate | 15 | 21 |
| 2pt FG% | 51 | 50 |
| 3pt FG% | 38 | 28 |
| FT% | 79 | 64 |
| 3p FGA/FGA | 28 | 44 |
Ball Control Index:
St. Bona 2.30
UMass 1.43
Statement win. Coming off a subpar performance on Wednesday, visiting a UMass team on Alumni Day was not an opportune matchup for Mark Schmidt’s group. The minutemen entered on a roll, having won three of their last four. Included were a road win at Richmond and a 22 point home win over VCU just three days ago. Add to the fact, the hosts would love nothing more than to avenge a tough loss at the Reilly Center just 17 days prior. It all added up to a daunting task for the visitors. The Bonnies faced the challenge by taking care of business. It remains to be seen but this could in fact be a victory that sets the table for the remainder of the season and the conference tournament in March.
“We responded,” Schmidt told gobonnies.com. “We competed, our effort at La Salle was not what it needed to be. A few years ago we lost at La Salle then beat Dayton on the road. We talked with the team about that. Today we just got out and played hard. I told the team before the game it’s a four game (remaining) season,” Schmidt said. “We got the first, we are 1-0 now it’s on us.”
How it happened. UMass started hot, canning five of seven from beyond the arc to open a six point lead with eight minutes remaining in the half. At this point Bona was at the crossroads as the Minutemen threatened to get separation. The Bonnies answered at a most opportune time. They battled back to regain the lead. They lost it on a foul on a three point attempt and a turnover in the final two seconds, allowing the hosts to take a 38-36 lead into the break.
UMass had the momentum but the Bonnies did not fold and regained it. A three pointer by Charles Pride gave the visitors a seven point lead with just under 13 minutes to play. In a game featuring 7 ties and 12 lead changes, UMass came back and the contest was knotted with under four minutes left. In the stretch Moses Flowers made two big plays- converting offensive rebounds resulting in a putback of his own and a three pointer by Mika Adams-Woods to give Bona a 71-66 lead with less than two minutes to go. The Bona defense prevented any last second run by the Minutemen.
Key factors: Resilience- With the lead the Bonnies withstood any of the Minutemen runs. Maintaining poise was crucial.
Rebounding- This had been problematic for the Bonnies as of late. Bona won the battle of the glass by a 36-32 count. The Minutemen are aggressive on the boards leading the A10 with a 37% offensive rebounding percentage. On the afternoon they were held two percentage points under their norm.
Defense, UMass, as noted, started out hitting five of their first seven three point attempts. They hit two of their next 18, finishing 7 of 25 for 28%. Credit the Bona defense for that.
Kenpom.com MVP: Chad Venning. The Bonnies’ low post threat scored 16 points, including the 1,000th of his career, while grabbing a game-high 10 boards. Venning also shot 6 of 7 from the charity stripe.
Bonnies had four in double figures. Beside Venning, Moses Flowers scored 15 while Mika Adams-Woods 14 and Charles Pride 11.
UMass was paced by Josh Cohen’s game-high 18 points. Rashool Diggins added 12 and Jaylen Curry 11. Matt Cross , one of Martin’s best players, was held to five points. Cross did have seven boards but committed four turnovers. “He hit a three to start the game but I thought we did a really good job of limiting Cross,” Schmidt said.
Notes: Bonnies led 38-28 in points in the paint. UMass had a 15-12 edge in second chance points. Bonnies had a 14-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
Daryl Banks III, Adams-Woods and UMass’ Keon Thompson led the way with five assets each.
Bonnies have three games left before the A10 Tournament convenes in Brooklyn. Two of the three are at home beginning with Loyola Chicago on Tuesday.
Drew Valentine’s Ramblers were 4-14, at the bottom of the conference last season, their initial campaign in A10 play. Currently they are 12-2, tied with Richmond at the top. They head to the Reilly Center riding a seven game win streak. Loyola defeated George Mason 80-59, Saturday in Chicago.
They lead the conference in defensive efficiency at 98. Loyola also sets the pace in two point defense with a 44% mark. On the offensive end, the efficiency average is 107, checking in at eighth in the A10 order.
“We executed, the effort was tremendous and we did a good job on defense.” – Mark Schmidt
