The winning streak ended at eight thanks to the three. Saint Louis defeated St. Bonaventure 73-68 on Wednesday evening. The game at St. Louis’ Chaifetz Arena saw the Bonnies fall to 14-2 (2-1) while the Billikens improved to 10-6 (3-0).
Possessions: 66
Offensive Efficiency: SLU 111, St. Bona 103
Four Factors:
eFG Pct.- SLU 62, St. Bona 44
FT Rate- SLU 26, St. Bona 22
OREB Pct.- St. Bona 36, SLU 11
TO Rate- St. Bona 15, SLU 17
Kenpom.com MVP– Gibson Jimerson. The Saint Louis guard scored a game-high 28 points. Jimerson was especially lethal from long range burying six of his 11 attempts beyond the arc. To add salt to the wound, the 6’5” senior hit two free throws in the final seconds to seal the verdict.
Shooting a number of ailments. Another popular coaching axiom. On this night it proved to be the case. The Bonnies held a 44-24 edge in points in the paint and led 38-28 in the rebounding department (allowing only three on the offensive end). Josh Schertz’s Billikens, though, shot the lights out. The white hot effective field goal percentage of 62% was largely a product of a 13-33 (39%) performance from deep. Seventeen of the first 22 Billiken field goal attempts were from beyond the arc. Not too surprising as Saint Louis attempts 49% (17th nationally) of their field goal attempts from long range. Against Bonaventure that number was 65%.
Resilience. Bonaventure’s ability to respond to the opposition runs and protect leads has been noted frequently this season. On Wednesday Bona showed a different resilience-the ability to battle back and not fold.
After a strong start by the visitors, Saint Louis went on a 15-2 run to take a six point lead into the break. The lead grew to 16 with just under five minutes remaining in the contest. The Bonnies responded with an 11-1 run of their own to close the gap. In the final minute the difference was one possession before Jimerson’s free throws clinched it for Saint Louis.
It felt like we were always on our heels,” Bona coach Mark Schmidt told gobonnies.com. “But we didn’t give up. We fought, man, we didn’t give in. We had some lulls and Jimerson did some damage. But we were still there at the end…We had our chances. Give Saint Louis credit, they’re a very good team .”
Leaders. Saint Louis had three double-figure scorers. Beside Jimerson, Isaiah Swope had 16 and Robbie Avila 14. Bonnies had four players in double-figures. Chance Moore led the way with 23 points. Noel Brown scored 16 while Lajae Jones and Melvin Council added 12 and 10 respectively.
Leading rebounder was Moore with 10 while Avila led the Billikens with nine.
Council had six assists while Avila and Kobe Johnson of Saint Louis had five each.
Notes. Saint Louis shot 49% from the field overall, and as previously noted, 39% from three. Bonnies checked in with a 41% field goal percentage, 24% (4 of 17) from three.
Bonnies had not trailed by more than three points in a game since a November 29th win over Northern Iowa.
It was the fourth straight Billiken victory in a series that now has Saint Louis showing a 17-16 all-time edge.
Moore recorded his fourth double-double of the season.
Saint Louis will visit VCU on Tuesday. The Bonnies host La Salle on Saturday. The St. Bonaventure 1968 team, undefeated in regular season, will be honored.
Kenpom predicts a 77-65 Bonaventure victory. This is far from a guarantee. The Explorers enter Reilly Center with an 8-7 record. They are 0-2 in the A-10 having dropped games at Dayton and home to Loyola Chicago. With veteran mentor Fran Dunphy on the sidelines, it’s far from an easy matchup. The game’s importance is not lost on Schmidt.
“We knew we weren’t going to go undefeated,” he said. “We had two road games and were able to win one of them. To compete for an Atlantic Ten Title, you have to steal some on the road and defend your home court and now we need to defend home court the next couple of games.”
