St.Bonaventure sweeps Rivalry Week

For St.Bonaventure it was a rivalry sweep. The Bonnies defeated Siena on Tuesday at MVP Arena in Albany. On Saturday the host Bonnies knocked off ‘Little 3’ rival Niagara at the Reilly Center. The win improved the Bona ledger to 12-1.  

St. Bona 65 Siena 48

Possessions- 67

Offensive Efficiency- St. Bona 97, Siena 72

Chance Moore scored a game-high 23 points as the Bonnies captured the Br. Ed Coughlin Franciscan Cup with the victory over Siena (5-6). Bonnies had three in double digits-Moore, Kenpom.com MVP Melvin Council had 14 and Noel Brown 10 while not allowing a Siena player score 10 or more points. Major Freeman and Devin Brafford both had 9 for the Saints.

Siena scored the first bucket of the game before the Bonnies answered with a 22-2 run. The latter part of the second half the Bona lead grew to 30. The Bonnies owned a 42-24 edge in points in the paint. 

On the defensive end, Gerry McNamara’s Saints Siena were limited to a 32% shooting night while being forced into a 24% turnover rate.

St. Bona 71 Niagara 52

Possessions- 64

Offensive Efficiency- St. Bona 111, Niagara 81

Bommis never trailed and led by as much as 25 midway through the second half. Five players reached double-figures as the Bonnies closed out the non–conference portion of the schedule with the win over Niagara (5-7). Chance Moore and Lajae Jones scored 16 each. Melvin Council added 14 while Noah Brown and Jonah Hinton had 13 and 10 respectively. Olumide Adelodun paced Greg Paulus’ Purple Eagles with a game-high 19 points. 

Bonnies shot a blistering 11 of 24 (46%) from three. The real damage was the 26-14 Bona difference in points in the paint and a 17-0 margin for points off turnovers. 

Council was Kenpom.com MVP while Jones took the WWE belt as Bonnies Player of the game. 

Defense. The defensive side of the ball has been crucial in the Bona success. Eight of the thirteen Bonaventure opponents to date have been unable to reach 60 points. On a national level the Bonnies rank eighth in the country. Houston, at 55.3 points allowed, is the nation’s leader. The 60.1 points allowed puts Mark Schmidt’s group two Places ahead of A10 favorite VCU (60.8). 

The efficiency (points per possession X 100) gives a different, and many consider a more accurate measure. The raw points allowed can be deceptive as some teams play at a different tempo. In other words, slower tempo teams might allow less points. Even in the shot clock era some teams play at a 65 possession pace while others are in the low to mid 70s. And those 7-10 extra possessions make a big difference. Efficiency divides points by possessions to arrive at the total. 

Below is the Kenpom.com A10 rundown of defensive efficiency as of December 22. Included to the right in parentheses is the respective team’s national rank in defensive efficiency. 

Either way you look at it, points allowed or defensive efficiency, the Bonnies are playing some excellent lockdown defense. 

A10 Defensive Efficiency:

Conference play. Next up following Christmas the A10 play begins. Mark Schmidt breaks the season down into threes- non-conference, conference and post season. The 12-1 start is great but no guarantee of future success as the ‘second season’ unfolds. The Bonnies have a significant conference test right off the bat, hosting VCU on New Year’s Eve.  

“That’s (12-1) not going to help us when we play VCU,” Schmidt told gobonnies.com. “When we play there are portions of the game we play really well and portions when we don’t. We have to play better individually and as a team…VCU was picked to win our league so we will have a huge test right out of the gates.”

Notes: The 12-1 start is Bona’s best since the 1969-70 Final Four season. Bonnies lead the all-time series against Niagara by a 91-71 count.

Carrying out Schmidt’s emphasis on attacking the lane, the Bonnies own a +158 points in the paint edge through their 13 non-conference contests.  

Bona is 9-5 in Franciscan Cup games and 34-12 overall against Siena.

Saints had won four of the last five against the Bonnies at MVP Arena dating back to 2018. 

Bonnies wore their 1969-70 Final Four throwback jerseys against Niagara.

Against Niagara the Bonnies had five players in double figures for the third time this season. The other times were against Canisius and Le Moyne. 

The two games saw the Bonnies caring for the ball. They had 11 turnovers against Siena and seven against Niagara. Both games saw the TO rate under the 20% cutoff. On the season the Bona TO rate is 17% just under the national average of 17.8%.