By SPENCER BATES
ALBANY — Another blistering start, spurred on by the defensive prowess of the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team saw it secure its second-straight Franciscan Cup trophy.
At the expense of the only other Div. I Franciscan college in the entire nation and hosts of this year’s annual meeting, Siena College, the Bonnies put another tally in the win column with a 65-48 near-blowout result.
Bona is now the first team in all of Div. I men’s basketball to reach the 11-win checkpoint this season and, according to coach Mark Schmidt, while there is still work to be done, they have their defense and maturity to thank for the start they’ve had.
“The first three, four minutes, I thought we were heavy-legged, we didn’t have any flow,” Schmidt said. “But I thought, as the first half went on, our defense was the reason why we got the lead out. Our offense isn’t great. When we get out in the open court, we have a chance. In the half-court, it’s still a little bit stagnant. But defensively, we got steals. And when you get offense off of your defense, it makes it a little bit easier.”
“We’re not nearly where we need to be, but it was a good victory, especially coming off of Providence, and the high that they had. A mature team takes care of business and I thought we did a good job tonight.”
St. Bonaventure guard Melvin Council Jr. (11) looks to drive while under close guard by a Siena defender. (St. Bonaventure Athletics)
A testament to that maturity and the resilience of the Bonnies is the fact that not only were they able to reel in the emotion after their big win over Providence just days before, but also that it was once again the starters running the show, displaying no signs of fatigue.
Chance Moore finished five points shy of his career-high as he led Bona with 23 on the night and collected 10 rebounds for his second-straight double-double and third of the season. Melvin Council Jr., who Schmidt referred to as the team’s “alpha,” had the second-highest point tally with 14 to go along with an otherwise filled stat line of five rebounds, four assists and a game-high seven steals. Noel Brown finished with double-figure points for the second game running as well with 10 to his name while Lajae Jones and Xander Wedlow contributed seven points apiece, for the latter it was a career-high.
Bona, much like the Providence game, was dominant in the paint, nearly doubling the output of the Saints in that category by a margin of 42-24. It also thrived in the fast-break, scoring 10 points via that method to Siena’s two.
However, St. Bonaventure and Siena both struggled shooting the deep ball. The Bonnies shot 4-for-20 from deep while the Saints went 6-for-26.
After a rampant start, Bona led by a 17-point margin entering halftime. But Siena had only held a lead entering halftime once this season and they still had five wins entering the game, meaning the job was far from over.
St. Bonaventure guard Noah Bolanga (23) looks to cut in towards the basket along the baseline. (St. Bonaventure Athletics)
But luckily for Bona, more of the same defensive dominance after the break allowed for a just-as-good start to the second half.
“I thought … we played very well in the first five minutes of the second half, better than we did the first five minutes of the game,” Schmidt said. “We got some easy baskets, got defense off of offense, and it was a good showing.”
The Bonnies were able to cruise over the finish line after building an insurmountable lead, ballooning to as much as 30 points with just under 7.5 minutes left in the affair. However, they did concede a 19-7 run in favor of the Saints to close out the game, which was something that Schmidt, who was overall satisfied with the result, did not so much enjoy.
“I thought the last two minutes we gave up some blow-bys,” Schmidt said. “Yeah, maybe I’m a little bit critical, but you got to try to be perfect. I thought our energy, our hands, our activity playing defense in the ball screen high and we had size on those guys. Their guards are small, so you want to try to smother them as much as you can.”
“(With) good offense, you push the defense back, (with) good defense, you push the offense out. I thought we did a good job with ball pressure.”
Now, Bona has just one non-conference game left in its schedule: a home affair against Niagara, which, with a win, will see it complete a season-sweep over the three other members of the Big 4.
This will be the Bonnies’ first game at home in exactly two weeks, something Schmidt is thankful for.
“It’s good to be sleeping in your own bed,” Schmidt joked. “(We have) one more game against a good Niagara team, another rivalry game, and hopefully we can play well. We’re going to prepare, and hopefully we can play well.”
Bona and Niagara will tip-off at 1 p.m. on Dec. 21 at the Reilly Center, its last game before Atlantic 10 play comes to town in the form of a VCU affair on New Year’s Eve.
