Bronx, NY – The Fordham Rams were in quest of their first home victory in A10 play. The Bonnies, were still trying to find consistency. Something had to give, and it did. St.Bonaventure posted an 85-67 victory over Fordham, Wednesday evening at Rose Hill Gym. The Bonnies improved to 15-9 (6-6) while Fordham is now 10-14 (4-7).
“Have to congratulate coach (Mark) Schmidt and the Bonnies,” Fordham coach Keith Urgo commented. “They were well prepared. They shot a very high percentage but a lot of those shots were contested.”
Schmidt agreed with his counterpart’s assessment noting,”we played well and shot well against their tandem (matchup) defense. We made shots and did a good job on defense.”
Possessions: 68
Offensive efficiency: St. Bona 125, Fordham 99
Numbers (Four Factors in bold)
| St. Bona | Fordham | |
| eFG Pct. | 72 | 50 |
| FT Rate | 40 | 33 |
| OREB Pct. | 32 | 25 |
| TO Rate | 25 | 18 |
| 2pt FG % | 56 | 52 |
| 3Pt FG % | 67 | 32 |
| FT % | 65 | 72 |
| 3PA/FGA | 36 | 47 |
Ball Control Index: Fordham 1.92 , St. Bona 1.41
Fast start. In recent games, even in the friendly confines of Reilly Center, the Bonnies have slowly gotten out of the gate. A good start, especially in a road environment, was essential. Mark Schmidt’s club was able to answer the call.
Just prior to the midway point of the first half the Bonnies held a nine point lead. And it increased from that point. The score was 44-27 in Bona’s favor at intermission. The offensive efficiency for the Bonnies was a superlative 138. On the defensive end they limited the Rams to an 84 efficiency.
The paint. The Bonnies shot a blistering 12 of 18 (67%) from three. That was part of the story as they were also very effective inside. “Our game plan was to go at (Chad) Venning and get him in foul trouble,” Urgo said.” Fordham had trouble matching up with Bona’s size early. Noel Brown spelled Venning and utilized his 6’11” 265-pound size to outmuscle the Ram defenders in the low post. “Brown really stepped up,” Urgo said. “He was tough and physical in the paint.” Brown finished with 18 points, five rebounds. Venning did add 15 points in his 15 minutes. “Venning was very efficient for the time he played,” Urgo added. Schmidt, naturally, was pleased with his big men adding,” Brown and Chad both did a really good job for us inside.
Following the break. Bonnies led by 17 at intermission. They ‘won’ the first four minutes of the second half 11-10. The lead extended to 18, of added significance, those initial four minutes were a time for Keith Urgo’s group to start making a move. In the end, they actually lost ground.
Kenpom.com MVP: This was easy. Essa Essamvous. The Bona sophomore scored a game-high 23 points Essamvous shot 8 of 9 from the floor, including a perfect 7 of 7 from beyond the arc. In the last eight minutes of the first half when the Bonnies were building their lead, Essamvous canned four from downtown.
“He (Essamvous) is a 30% three point shooter,” Urgo lamented “We guarded him, five of his seven three pointers were well contested.” Schmidt was not totally surprised about Essamvous’ performance. “He’s a good shooter,” Schmidt remarked. “He shot better last year but struggled a bit this season.” Until last night.
The effort was there. The Bona lead was in the twenties most of the final half and reached as high as 26 (85-59 with just under three minutes remaining).
“I’m proud of my guys for not giving up,” Urgo praised. The Ram mentor said his team had their two best practices all season leading up to the Bonaventure game. Practices did not carry over to the game. Regardless, Urgo was positive. “We were down a lot (points) but continued to play hard. The effort was there right to the end.”
Notes: Bonnies won the rebounding battle 32-25. Moses Flowers was the game high rebounder with six.
Bonnies committed 17 turnovers to 12 of Fordham yet held a 20-15 edge in points off turnovers. Schmidt wasn’t overly concerned with the miscues, observing that ,”some of our turnovers came in the last few minutes, we got a little sloppy.”
The coaching saying is ‘’good shooting makes up for a multitude of sins’. Bona did have a high turnover rate (25%), for the game they shot 60% from the floor and an outstanding 72% eFG mark. Fordham checked in at 43% for the contest.
Bonnies also had a 30-28 advantage in points in the paint and 16-8 for second chance points.
Bonnies are back in Reilly Center for a Saturday afternoon meeting with Davidson. Visiting Wildcats are 4-7 in A10 play with victories in two of their last three outings. “They (Davidson) will be a tough game,” Schmidt predicted. “In this league everyone you play is tough.”
Fordham takes to the road to visit Dayton, also on Saturday.
Bonaventure followers were out in full force and vocal at Rose Hill. Leaving the court, coach Schmidt and team waved to their section in a gesture of appreciation.
“We have a lot of things to address (heading into the season homestretch) but the main thing we have to work on is consistency.” – Mark Schmidt
