This one was a bit nerve wracking and provided anxious moments for the Bona faithful. In the end it all worked out well for the followers of the Brown and White. St. Bonaventure defeated Bradley 69-63 in the Field of 68 Marathon at Rock Hill (South Carolina) Sports & Events Center. The game was the season opener for both clubs.
Numbers and Four Factors:
Possessions: 66- a grind it out pace.
Offensive efficiency: St. Bona 105, Bradley 95
| eFG Pct. | FT Rate | OREB Pct. | TO Rate | |
| St. Bona | 47 | 28 | 39 | 20 |
| Bradley | 48 | 23 | 15 | 14 |
Game Flow. After both teams started slow the Bonnies went on a run to build a 13 point lead, their largest of the day. A scoring drought, no field goals for the final five minutes of the half, saw the Bonaventure lead cut to eight at intermission.
Four minutes into the final stanza the Bona lead was nine. A 22-7 spurt by the Braves allowed them to pull ahead by six with nine minutes remaining. Buddy Simmons buried two three pointers to allow the Bonnies to regain the lead. The Bona lead was five before Bradley responded knotting the score at 62 with 83 seconds to play. Simmons answered once again hitting his fourth three pointer of the half allowing the Bonnies to regain a lead they would not relinquish.
In the end, chalk it up to an outstanding show of resilience on the part of coach Mark Schmidt’s Bonnies.
In the same boat. The roster overhaul at Bona is well documented. The opposition was in a similar situation as well. Bradley coached by Brian Wardle returned just six players from a 28-win team that advanced to last year’s NIT quarterfinal.
Kenpom player of the Game: This one was easy. Bona’s Buddy Simmons with a game high 24 points (5 of 11 from three) and a succession of clutch plays at crunch time.
Numbers: Bonnies placed four in double figures. Joining Simmons were Cayden Charles with 15 while Frank Mitchell and Joe Grahovac added 12 and 11 respectively. Bradley had three players tie for scoring honors: Alex Huibregtse, Jaquan Johnson and Demarian Burch had 13 each.
Both teams shot 43% from the floor while the Bonnies enjoyed a sizable 44-29 (15-5 offensively) advantage in the rebounding department. Individually Frank Mitchell led Bona with nine boards while Burch, Johnson and Timoty van der Knapp had four each for the Braves.
Bradley won the points in the paint battle by a 34-24 margin. The score was tied four times with the lead changing on six occasions.
Bona shared the ball with a 58% assist rate, 14 assists on 24 field goals. Simmons led the way in that category with four dimes.
Next up: A Saturday afternoon home date with Canisius. The Griffs dropped their Monday opener at Dayton 88-48. They are set to host Allegheny College on Thursday before venturing on the road to Olean.
