By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team was without its captain against Fordham.
Dasonte Bowen, and Daniel Egbuniwe for that matter, were both listed as questionable ahead of the team’s second game of the season against the Rams. Egbuniwe inevitably did play, but Bowen, whose offensive production had come alive as of late, was a scratch.
Still, the Bonnies found a way to pull out a victory in the Bronx, avenging the 81-77 loss they suffered at home back on Jan. 10. Mostly, by means of two majorly impactful performances from Darryl ‘Buddy’ Simmons II and Andrew Osasuyi.
Simmons, taking over Bowen’s point guard duties for the day, commanded the offense in a meaningful way and still managed to get his own as well. Against Fordham, he recorded a team-high 23 points, tacking on five assists and four rebounds.
Head coach Mark Schmidt is hopeful that Bowen will be fit to play in the team’s upcoming game against Duquesne, but even if he is absent, or just needs a minute to rest, the Bonnies can rest assured knowing that Simmons will be there to take up the reins.
“Buddy has played that position, he just hadn’t played it for 40 minutes, and I thought he did a really good job,” Schmidt said. “We didn’t run a ton of stuff, we tried to keep it as simple as we could, but Buddy did a good job in ball screens, taking care of the basketball and running the team. … And he’ll have to do that somewhere along the line again if Dasonte gets in some foul trouble.”
Osasuyi, while not having started the game, played a solid 29 minutes as Schmidt opted to go big with his lineup to try and match the size of the Rams. A decision that paid off as the freshman from Italy gave the Bonnies 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the floor, five blocks and four steals.
Schmidt has been very pleased with what he got out of Osasuyi, not just against the Rams, but in other recent games as well. As he has continued to adjust to Division One basketball, he has found himself a role as the defensive safety net that Bona has been in search of. There is still room for growth, he admitted, but for now, the defensive boost he provides the team has been instrumental.
“He’s a rim protector from the backside, he doesn’t have the strength yet to be able to play just one-on-one in the post, but he’s done a really good job of coming from behind and being a rim protector for us,” Schmidt said. “It gives us a guy that, when we make mistakes, we have someone that can protect us. So, he’s coming along. He’s learning. He’s just got to get stronger. When he gets stronger, he can hold his position, and he’ll be a really good player. … The better shape you are in, it’s not that you can necessarily play longer, but you can play better. You can play more consistent. Your effort can stay consistent. When you get tired, it’s difficult to produce and play at your capabilities.”
All that being said, the Fordham fixture, come tip-off against Duquesne, will have been a full week ago, an eternity compared to the number of quick turnarounds the Bonnies have had for a majority of the season. With that in mind, Schmidt’s goal for the week was simple.
“Get healthy, get some rest,” Schmidt said. “We haven’t had a week off because we had that bye week after the first game, which is a little bit difficult.”
So, the hope is that Bowen will be back with the starters and that at least everyone who featured in the first game of the season against the Dukes, an 87-79 win on Jan. 28, will be ready to go for round two.
In that win in Pittsburgh, both Osasuyi and Joe Grahovac played important roles as they filled in for Frank Mitchell, who dealt with early foul trouble. Mitchell recorded just four points and three rebounds in that affair, so keeping him out of that trouble and needing to head to the bench is something Schmidt has stressed in the lead-up to the game.
“He did a good job passing the ball but he’s got to rebound the ball better against (Duquesne),” Schmidt said. “It’s hard once you get in early foul trouble, it takes you out of the game. So hopefully he can stay out of foul trouble early and have more of an impact on the game, both offensively and defensively.”
But for the struggles he had last time against the Dukes, Mitchell still managed to record a career-high seven assists in his 13 minutes. Seeing more double teams this year than, according to Schmidt, he has ever seen before in his college career, Mitchell has been forced to double as not only a physical force in the paint, but a solid distributor of the ball as well.
“Frank’s never been double-teamed in his life,” Schmidt said. “But the more he sees it, the more he experiences it, the better he is. He’s not a selfish player. He’s willing to pass the ball, and he did a good job against Duquesne in game one. It’s something that he’s getting better at, and the better he gets, we’re going to be able to get open shots, because we got good shooters that surround him.”
As for the emphasis Schmidt has placed on Duquesne, that remains unchanged from the first go-around: put a stop to the guards, win the physical battle over the big men and remain calm under pressure.
“The guards are the strength of the team, and you got to be able to control them somewhat,” Schmidt said. “They shoot over half the shots they score. … I thought we did a better job in the second half in doing that. Then the inside guy, we got to be able to rebound with him. We’re going to be able to get second shots. And we can’t turn the ball over. I thought we did a better job in the second half of not turning the ball over because there’s a lot of pressure, they try to deny one pass away, they’re jumping on top of you, picking up full court, really physical. If we can take care of the basketball, we’ll be able to get some stuff. But their pressure is a concern.”
Tarence Guinyard and Jimmie Williams are the two guards that Schmidt has an eye on as both average over 16 points per game. John Hugley IV, Jakub Necas and David Dixon are the big men the likes of Mitchell, Osasuyi and Grahovac will have to deal with. That trio for Duquesne combined for 31 points in round one.
St. Bonaventure will tip-off its Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) fixture against Duquesne at 4 p.m. in the Reilly Center.
