Getting away from snowy Western New York to the Sunshine State of Florida was a nice diversion. Taking two games on the trip was an attractive bonus.
Scores:
Fort Myers Tip-OFF
North Carolina 85 St. Bona 70
St. Bona 67 East Carolina 58
St. Bona 70 FAU 65
Efficiency.
| Offensive Eff. | Defensive Eff. | |
| North Carolina | 99 | 120 |
| East Carolina | 94 | 82 |
| FAU | 108 | 100 |
The two Carolina games were played exactly at a 71 possession pace. The FAU contest was more in line with the grind it out Bona tempo (68 average) with 65 possessions.
The best defensive game obviously came against East Carolina. That proved to be fortuitous as the offense turned in its lowest number of the three contests.
Two out of three ain’t bad. To borrow a title of that pop star of lore Meatloaf, that summarized the trip to Florida. Against 16th ranked North Carolina, the Bonnies battled back from a double digit deficit to take a lead then finish the half trailing by two. The Tar Heels were able to pull away in the second half.
Two days later was a meeting with East Carolina. A chance to see how Mark Schmidt’s group would respond following the North Carolina game. The game was close for the duration. In the stretch it was anybody’s game. The Bonnies showed the resolve and made the big plays to pull off the victory.
OT was a tough game,” Schmidt toppled Tapinto greater Olean. “But in the end we handled adversity and we won, which is the bottom line. We’ve got to continue to get better in all phases. But coming back 48 hours after losing a tough game to (North) Carolina,I thought our guys did a good job responding.”
Riding the momentum of a ‘gut check’ victory, the Bonnies faced Florida Atlantic (FAU) on their home court. The game featured three ties and seven lead changes. In the final minutes the Bonnies held a three point lead. A key steal by Dasonte Bowen , who has played well to date, followed by two free throws allowed the Bonnies to seal the verdict.
Bench: The Bonnies averaged 22 points off the bench for the three games. And, those numbers in relief were significant.
Facing North Carolina Daniel Egbuniwe came off the bench to score eight points, while grabbing five boards and handing out three assists. In the East Carolina matchup Egbuniwe answered the call in a big way with a 17-point outing. The junior forward knocked down five shots from beyond the arc. Egbuniwe’s three with 1:50 remaining gave the Bonnies a 59-54 lead. A lead they wouldn’t lose.
“Daniel was terrific,” Schmidt said. “He hit that big shot-that was the backbreaker.”
Against FAU, Achille Lonati came off the bench, burying three three pointers to finish with 13 points. The last three were clutch, coming in the game’s final six minutes, allowing the Bonnies to close out the victory.
Finding a way. There are games when what you rely on best is compensated or completely shut down by the opposition. In those situations you need the resolve to dig deep and find another way to win. The Bonnies were able to do just that.
In the FAU contest, the Bonnies were beaten on the boards 37-29 by the host Owls. A 53% shooting mark by the Brown and White proved to offset the rebounding disparity. Especially since the Bona defense limited FAU to 40% shooting from the floor.
Double-Double. Frank Mitchell scored 18 points, grabbing six rebounds against North Carolina. In the final two games the senior center was a double-double machine: 17 points, 12 rebounds against East Carolina and 13 points, 11 boards versus FAU. Through eight contests Mitchell is averaging 16.0 ppg and 10.4 rpg-both team-leading figures.
Spreading the wealth and notes. When you have multiple scoring threats you become very difficult to guard. Such was the case for the Bonnies over the three games in Florida. Over that time, four different players (two were tied one game) stepped up for scoring honors. Buddy Simmons paced the Bonnies with 22 points against North Carolina. Mitchell and Egbuniwe led the way with 17 each against East Carolina. Cayden Charles was the leader with 16 against FAU.
Bonnies, at 7-1, return to Reilly Center to face DII Bloomsburg on Wednesday. A familiar name was on the floor for FAU was Devin Vanterpool. The son of Bonaventure Hall-of-Famer David Vanterpool, was the game-high scorer with 17 points.
