Guess this should be expected as the norm when these two combatants meet on the hardwood. A close, intense game with a finish at the wire. St. Bonaventure defeated VCU 77-75 in the A10 opener for both teams. The New Year’s eve (something tells me the venerable Burton was hoping that night) game at the Reilly Center saw the Bonnies improve to 13-1 (1-0) while VCU is now 10-4 (0-1). The numbers and notes…
Possessions: 62
Offensive efficiency: St. Bona 124, VCU 121
VCU hit 11 three pointers while shooting 63% inside the arc to post an outstanding efficiency. Bonnies were just a bit better with an outstanding efficiency showing against the A10’s number one (23rd nationally) ranked team in defensive efficiency at 95.9.
The 62 possessions suggested a grind it out game (which it was) featuring 10 ties in 16 lead changes.
Four Factors:
eFG Pct.- VCU 58, St. Bona 54
FT Rate- St. Bona 33, VCU 16
OREB Pct.- VCU 37, St. Bona 33
TO Rate- St. Bona 10, VCU 18
Care for the ball. VCU had slight advantages in offensive rebounding (OREB) and effective field goal percentage. Mark Schmidt’s group came up big in the turnover department. On the season, VCU, with its vaunted pressure defense, forces opponents into a 22% TO rate, good for 31st nationally. The Rams would score just seven points off six Bona turnovers. Keeping the turnover rate to 10% was not only excellent-it was a big factor in the outcome.
Final possessions. Phillip Russell’s baseline basket with 17 seconds remaining tied the game. On the final Bonaventure possession, following a time out, Melvin Council penetrated and made a scooping motion of a layup that eluded VCU’s inside defenders.
There were 3.9 seconds remaining with Ryan Odom’s Rams inbounding on their baseline following a time out. Schmidt recounted his thinking on the final sequence with gobonnies.com.
“You can go 2-2-1 and try to keep the ball in front,” the coach said. “If you would tell me we would have the lead and under four seconds to play with the other team needing a 30-footer (to win) you live with that. We contested without fouling and we did a decent job keeping the ball in front. If he makes that you just live with it.”
As it played out the ball was in Russell’s hands for the final shot- an attempt just beyond 30 feet that was off the mark.
Assist for Lowe. Just us the Bonnies broke the huddle before their last possession, assistant coach Chris Lowe had some words of encouragement for Council. The Bona senior had missed the second of two free throws that opened up the door for Russell’s tying basket. Lowe, a an excellent four year starting guard during his UMass playing days and Minutemen career assist leader, could obviously relate to what might be going through Council’s mind and gave him a bit of reassurance.
“When you talk about guys who have it, he has it,” Schmindt said in praise of Council. “He’s a gamer…he made a great read (the final play), he beat the five man and he finished.”
Kenpom.com MVP: Phillip Russell. It is very infrequent for the MVP to home from the team on the short end. The 6’ Ram senior got the nod for his game-high 26 points which included a blistering 6 of 12 from downtown. Russell was a perfect four of four inside the arc and handed out three assists.
Leaders. Joe Bamisile scored 13 for VCU while Max Shulga added 11. Shulga, a dangerous three point shooter, was limited to one of five from downtown. Bonnies had four double figure scorers. Council, a 20 point scorer, shared the team-high with Noel Brown. Jonah Hinton scored 16 and Lajae Jones added 11.
Bona’s Chance Moore was the leading rebounder with 12 while Council added eight. Bamisile paced VCU with eight boards.
Notes: Bonnies shot 50% from the floor while VCU shot 48%. Rams did shoot 36% (11 of 31) from long range as the Bonnies checked in at 33% (5 of 15).
VCU won the battle of the boards 33-30. The Bonnies however enjoyed a 48-32 advantage on points in the paint.
The Bonnies lead the series with VCU 11-8 and now have four consecutive wins over the Rams.
Bona’s largest lead was six points with just under 14 minutes to play. Interestingly, VCU’s largest lead was one with just under two minutes remaining in the contest.
“VCU is a really good team. When the schedule came out we thought the A-10 didn’t do us any favors starting with VCU but at least it was a home game….There was some adversity, we could have folded, but we made the plays when we needed to.” – Mark Schmidt
Posted In: General Discussion