What a start in conference play! St. Bonaventure scored an impressive 89-78 victory over VCU in the A10 opener for both teams on Wednesday. The game at VCU’s Siegel Center saw Bona winning their eighth in their last nine to improve to 10-3. VCU had a four game win streak snapped and is now 8-6.
Possessions: 69
Offensive efficiency: St. Bona 129, VCU 113
Four Factors:
| St. Bona | VCU | |
| eFG Pct | 59 | 57 |
| FT Rate | 47 | 32 |
| OREB Pct | 21 | 19 |
| TO rate | 12 | 16 |
Keys to victory:
Shooting. Sometimes we have ‘paralysis from over analysis’. Simply, we tend to overlook the fact, putting the ball in the basket is the objective and proficiency in that area must not be sold short. Bonnies were white hot, hitting a better percentage (12 of 22 for 55%) from beyond the arc than inside (16 of 36 for 44%). Overall Bona showed a 48% mark from the floor. VCU shot 50% but the big difference here was their 38% (8 of 21) shooting from three could not match the Bonnies hot hand from that range.
Turnovers. Bona committed only 8 turnovers. Four were in the waning moments when Ryan Odom’s Rams made their last run. Bona outscored VCU 14-11 in points off turnovers. Minimizing turnovers was one of coach Mark Schmidt’s pregame priorities. Mission accomplished.
Weathering the runs with poise. All teams will make a run. Good teams can make multiple runs. VCU did that, getting a 19 point deficit down to a three possession game with six minutes to play. At that point Charles Pride quieted the crowd and rally with a big three pointer for the Bonnies.
“When the crowd got into it they didn’t make us play faster,” Schmidt told gobonnies.com. “We played like a mature team.”
Spreading .the wealth Bona had five in double figures. Chad Venning led the way with team highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Pride added 17 points, Mika Adams-Woods scored 16, Assa Essamvous 14 and Daryl Banks III 10.
“Daryl got out of his shooting slump and Assa Essamvous carried us at the start of the second half, “Schmidt observed. “Five guys in double figures; it was a real team effort.”
Kenpom.com MVP: Charles Pride. The 6’4” senior scored 17 points going a perfect three of three from long range. As noted, Pride hit a crucial three to stop a late game VCU run. Pride also hauled down seven rebounds on the night.
Notes: VCU was led in scoring by Christian Fermin with 15. Kuany Kuany added 13 and Zeb Jacksion and Sean Bairstow each had 11 for VCU.
Bona won the battle of the boards by a 35-29 count with a 10-6 advantage on the offensive end.
Bench scoring was led by VCU, 21-13. The Bonnies, however, did get help in relief. Kyrell Luc contributed six points in eight minutes while Barry Evans, in 17 minutes, added two points, three rebounds, two steals and a number of valued contributions that do not show up in the box score.
It was Bona’s second consecutive victory over VCU at their Siegel Center.
VCU seemed to be in a ‘catch up’ or come from behind for almost the entire contest. Bonnies led for 38 minutes of the game and most of the second half by double digits.
More than simply an outside threat, Bona’s Mika Adams-Woods drew a game-high seven fouls.
Bonnies continue their stay in Richmond meeting Chris Mooney’s Richmond Spiders on Saturday.
“In atmospheres like this, you have to hit big shots. We did that tonight.”- Mark Schmidt
