The rubber match went to VCU. In the A10 quarterfinals VCU defeated St. Bonaventure 76-59. The two teams had split their regular season meeting. Friday’s game at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, saw Ryan Odom’s Rams improve to 26-6 while the Bonnies dropped to 22-11. Numbers and notes…
Possessions: 64
Offensive Efficiency: VCU 119, St. Bona 92
Four Factors:
eFG Pct.- VCU 49, St. Bona 40
FT Rate- St. Bona 36, VCU 15
OREB Pct.- VCU 41, St. Bona 35
TO Rate- VCU 11, St. Bona 20
Points of Emphasis:
Worst fears. Entering the game the biggest concerns for coach Mark Schmidt were rebounding and turnovers. Unfortunately, for Schmidt and the Bonnies, they were realized. VCU won the battle of the boards by a 40-36 count. The second chance points, interestingly enough, were even at 16, The turnovers, 13 by the Bonnies, led at a significant 21-6 VCU advantage in points off turnovers. “You can’t beat a team like VCU with the athletes they have when you get outscored 21-6 on points off turnovers,” Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt told gobonnies.com.
Points in the paint. A priority of Schmidt and something the Bonnies have enjoyed with great success this season. On the afternoon the Rams owned that area to the tune of 38-26. “We lost in the paint,” Schmidt lamented. “That’s usually our strength. We lost in the paint by 12. So if you’re going to lose the three-point (shooting) game, which we’ve lost a lot this year, our strength was getting the ball to the paint by the dribble or the pass. We struggled in that area.”
Comeback. But not all the way. A 7-0 run late in the first half gave the Rams a 10-point lead at the break. The VCU lead expanded to 13 early in the final half before Bona held the Rams scoreless for four minutes to get within two possessions. The Rams responded, getting the margin back to 12 points with 12 minutes to play. Once again the Bonnies got it to two possessions with 9:22 left. And once again, starting with a Jack Clark three pointer, VCU answered and never looked back.
Leadership. Schmidt cited the leadership of Melvin Council and Noel Brown and what it meant. “The season was up and down,” the coach said. “We started off really well then we hit a tough spot and lost three or four in a row, If you don’t have good leadership you can splinter. Give our guys, all of our guys, but especially these two guys (Council and Brown) that (credit)…When you have good leadership, what is said in the locker room is accurate, it’s positive. So we were lucky to have these two guys as captains, One of the reasons why we had the success that we had this year.”
Brown added his feelings saying, “my second year as a Bonnie and my last year. I can’t say anything better about it. I think it’s honestly one of the best places on earth,” he continued. “We really do care about that place and other people care about me as well and I can feel it. Like the rest of the team.”
Kenpom.com MVP: Brandon Jennings. The VCU freshman guard came off the bench to score 15 points and pull down five rebounds in 15 minutes of playing time. “I thought Jennings was a big difference in the game,” Schmidt said.
VCU had four players in double-figures. Besides Jennings, Jack Clark scored 17, Zeb Jackson had 14 and Joe Bamisile 13, VCU’s Max Shulga the A10 Player of the Year was limited to two points on one of nine shooting from the floor. Shulga made his presence known, handing out a game-high 11 assists.
Melvin Council and Chance Moore had a game-high 19 points each to pace the Bonnies. Lajae Jones added 10.
Notes: Bonnies shot 36% from the field, including just 4 of 19 (21%) from three. VCU checked in at a 46% mark, 28% (9 of 32 from beyond the arc.
VCU’s 37% mark in offensive rebounding percentage checks in at 10th nationally. In A10 play the Rams showed a 40% rate which led the conference. VCU’s Michael Belle and Bona’s Lajae Jones tied for game-high rebounding honors with 10 each.
Melvin Council played the full 40 minutes. The senior guard played 93% of the possible minutes this season. In addition to his previously mentioned scoring, Council added nine rebounds and four assists.
Bona’s 22 wins were the most since 2022, a season that culminated in an NIT Final Four run.
VCU moved on to face Loyola Chicago in the semifinals. The Ramblers defeated Saint Louis 72-64 in the quarterfinals.
For the Bonnies, an NIT bid could be a possibility.
“Give credit to VCU. They played extremely well, They took us out of stuff offensively.” – Mark Schmidt
