By SPENCER BATES
PHILADELPHIA, PA — The fruitless run in Atlantic 10 conference play continued for the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team as it fell on the road to a physical La Salle side.
Unfortunately for the Bonnies, late-game execution continues to be their downfall. There were eight lead changes throughout the first half as the sides exchanged blows. But after a 9-2 run that put the Explorers ahead with under 16 minutes remaining, the Bonnies never saw another lead.
Offensively, the Bonnies were able to get some solid numbers. Frank Mitchell shined yet again with 26 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Daniel Egbuniwe recorded 19 points, coming alive late as he scored 16 of Bona’s final 21 points of the game. Cayden Charles finished with 11 points, all of which came in the first half. And Dasonte Bowen had a superb night with a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double. He also had four rebounds, three steals and did not turn the ball over once.
Notably absent from the top scorers list for Bona was Darryl ‘Buddy’ Simmons II. Scoring just four points on 2-for-7 shooting, Simmons had a tough go of it thanks to the committed defense La Salle covered him with.
“I thought Ashton Walker did a great job on (Buddy) today,” Bona associate head coach Sean Neal said. “The kid didn’t score a point for them, but he really hounded Buddy all day. Anytime they switched, they did a great job really getting into Buddy. Any down screens, they really got into him and forced him to catch it out. Those ball screens, they trapped a lot of the times to keep him from getting a clean look or getting downhill.”
But again, it was not the offense that condemned Bona. Defensively, it conceded a season-high 27-point game from Jerome Brewer, Jr. in which he went a perfect 9-for-9 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Jaeden Marshall didn’t finish far behind his teammate in the scoring category with 23 of his own. Josiah Harris and Rob Dockery chipped in 10 points apiece for the hosts as well.
“We got to make it a little more difficult for (opponents), but credit Jerome Brewer, he made some really tough shots,” Neal said. “He didn’t miss all day, so you got to give him some credit. But certainly our defense needs to improve.”
The Explorers were able to hold on late much in part thanks to how aggressive they were going at the Bonnies’ defense. They conceded some easy buckets, but even when they were able to get bodies on their attackers they sent them to the free throw line.
La Salle shot a perfect 20-for-20 from the free throw line, 15 more points than Bona got from the charity stripe, having gone just 5-for-9 in the affair. That aggression and ability to get the free shots were key according to Neal.
“They drove the ball late in the game,” Neal said. “I thought Dockery did a great job late. They kept him in the middle of the court, and he was not always scoring it, but he was able to make reads and get other guys some easy looks. And they made their free throws today.”
Egbuniwe did all he could down the stretch, scoring 16 points over the final nine minutes of action. He finished 5-for-8 from 3-point range and it was one of those 3s that put the Bonnies within two points of the Explorers with 15 seconds on the clock.
But in the end, it was just too far out of reach for the Bonnies as a couple of clutch free throws from the hosts put them on ice.
“They were the more physical, aggressive and more athletic team out there today,” Neal said. “We got to get back to the drawing board and get ready for Loyola (Chicago). That’s gonna be another really tough game on Tuesday.”
St. Bonaventure will return home for its next game, on Jan. 20, where it will look to avoid getting further behind the 8-ball against a Loyola Chicago team that is also winless in its last five A10 games. Tip-off for that game is set for 7 p.m.
