A plethora of new names and faces helped get the season off on a positive note. St. Bonaventure defeated CSUN 70-56 Monday evening at the Reilly Center in the opener for both teams. The numbers….
Possessions: 76
Offensive efficiency: St. Bona 92, CSUN 74
A below average offensive efficiency for the Bonnies. On the half full side, an outstanding defensive metric fueled by forcing turnovers and owning the glass.
Four Factors:
| eFG Pct. | FT Rate | OREB Pct. | TO Rate | |
| St. Bona | 43 | 62 | 30 | 24 |
| CSUN | 43 | 24 | 20 | 28 |
Points of Emphasis:
Pace was on the uptempo side. Last season the Bonnies averaged 66 possessions per game. As noted, this is a new team and time will be necessary to sort out the identity of this group. For now, chalk that ‘NASCAR’ tempo up to the Bonnies forcing turnovers and converting them into run-out baskets. For the game, Mark Schmidt’s group scored 21 points off 21 Matador miscues.
Rebounding was a plus on both ends of the floor for the hosts. They grabbed 12 offensive boards while limiting CSUN to seven. Overall, the Bonnies won the battle underneath by a 40-35 margin with Chance Moore leading the way with nine.
Resilience. Bona led 31-20 at intermission. CSUN started the second half strong narrowing the deficit to two possessions. The Bonnies responded and answered with an 11-2 run to increase the lead to double digits and were never seriously threatened thereafter.
Turnovers. Bonnies were guilty of 18 turnovers. That’s something that has to be cleaned up. Realistically, it may take a little time when dealing with basically a new roster. As a group the Bonnies are still learning to play together and grasp coach Schmidt’s system.
“We’re still learning,” Schmidt told gobonnies.com. “We don’t have an identity yet. Coaches are still trying to figure out who’s playing, who’s not playing, who plays well and certain groups. That’s something we’re going to work on for the next two or three weeks.”
Notes: CSUN of the Big West Conference finished 19-15 last season. Coach Andy Newman’s club finished eighth out of the eleven team circuit. They advanced to the second round of the conference tournament before ending their season with a loss to Hawaii.
Senior guard Chance Moore earned Kenpom.com MVP honors, as he led all scorers with 18 points. Junior guard Lajae Jones added 16. Michael Folarin, a 6’11” redshirt junior, drew praise from Schmidt for coming off the bench to block three shots, pull down six boards and come up with two steals. Folarin filled in admirably when starting center Noel Brown got in early foul trouble.
On the night, CSUN had one double figure scorer, Keonte Jones with 16 points. Jones also tied the Bonnies’ Chance Moore for game high rebounding honors with nine.
Next up: Canisius, The ‘holy war’. Traditional Little Three rival. Always a test. Especially on the road as the Bonnies head to Buffalo for Saturday’s meeting. It will be the second game of the young campaign for both teams. Canisius opened their season suffering a 93-64 setback at Arizona on Monday.
“There are things we need to work on but it’s always good to work on things after a win.” -Mark Schmidt
