By SPENCER BATES
BRONX, NY — As the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team looked to avenge the loss it suffered to Fordham earlier this season, for a moment it looked as though a familiar tale was set to be told.
After taking a 60-57 lead with just under eight minutes to play the Bona offense fell quiet. Immediately after taking the 3-point lead, the visitors made just one basket over the next 4.5 minutes. In that time, the Rams erased the deficit and established a two-possession lead of their own.
But another late loss was not on the minds of Darryl ‘Buddy’ Simmons II or Andrew Osasuyi. Both managed to cap extremely positive performances by combining for the final three baskets of the game. Meanwhile, the Bona defense walled up and did not allow another point to Fordham in the final 4:51 of game time, resulting in a 70-67 win.
The Bonnies were without starting point guard Dasonte Bowen, who was listed as questionable ahead of the game, and while he didn’t have the best of game in round one with Fordham, he has been a pivotal piece on the offensive front as of late. So, much like what Melvin Council Jr. did last season in the wake of an injury to Bowen, Simmons had to make the adjustment from playing the two spot to running the show.
Having finished with a team-high 23 points on 10-for-15 shooting and five assists, it is safe to say he accomplished that goal.
“He’s played the off-guard, and Dasonte’s been the leader, the point guard, the quarterback and for Buddy to go in there, … as a two-guard, he did a really good job controlling the game,” Bona head coach Mark Schmidt said. “It’s difficult being a point guard if you haven’t played the point guard position all year. Andrew was the reason why we won, but without Buddy controlling the game, hitting those shots, then we wouldn’t have won either.”
Andrew Osasuyi was the recipient of the Bona Belt after having had perhaps his best game in a Bona uniform. He tallied 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting, five blocks and four steals. But what won’t show up in the box score was that simply his presence in the paint was enough to upend a number of Fordham possessions.
“I thought the difference was Andrew,” Schmidt said. “We’ve been having problems keeping the ball in front. … And I thought, in the first half, we didn’t do a great job, they had 16 points in the paint at halftime, but they only had five in the second half. I thought Andrew had a lot to do with that with his shot blocking ability. … Andrew was the difference.”
Cayden Charles also had a big game for Bona, scoring 21 points and grabbing six rebounds.
In the first game of the regular season series, there was one stand out reason for the Bonnies suffering defeat: DeJour Reaves.
He tallied a career-high 31 points in the Reilly Center back on Jan. 10. But in game two, he was kept to nearly a third of those points, scoring 12 points and dishing six assists.
“We tried to play the ball screens harder,” Schmidt said. “In game one, we were playing it back, and … once he’s going downhill, he’s hard to guard. I think Andrew had something to do with it too, once he got into the paint, he knew there was a shot blocker there. He was an emphasis. He was the reason why we lost in game one. So, he was the known that we needed to stop. If he got 31 again, we wouldn’t have won. We did a better job focusing on him and trying to make it difficult.”
With the win, the Bonnies moved to 3-8 in Atlantic 10 play, a “disappointing” record on paper, Schmidt acknowledged. But he noted what has not taken a hit over this difficult stretch has been the fight and desire to improve within his players.
“It’s disappointing that we’re 3-8 in the league, but the thing that I’m proud of is the guys have kept on fighting,” Schmidt said. “Practices are good and they still have confidence. A lot of times when you go through some games where at the end we had the lead and we didn’t win, it can wear on you both mentally and physically. But our guys haven’t given in. We have character guys. Competitors. And they’re giving everything they got. We may not win another game, but the effort is always going to be there. That’s what I’m proud of.”
St. Bonaventure has a week off before its next game, set for Feb. 14 at 4 p.m. at home against Duquesne.
