By CHUCK POLLOCK, Wellsville Sun Senior Sports Columnist
In its 58-year history, St. Bonaventure’s Reilly Center has seen its share of memorable basketball games.
There was the unforgettable win over Temple in 2000 on J.R. Bremer’s trey from the deep corner in the last two seconds as Owls’ coach John Chaney complained he was being showered with cookies from the Bonnie faithful; the 112-107 four overtime victory over Ohio U. in 2010; the 37 points Essie Hollis dropped on arch-rival Syracuse in a 1977 win; and Andrew Nicholson’s RC farewell, a 32-point, 14-rebound effort in a 98-93 double-overtime triumph over St. Joe’s in 2012.
But somewhere in the iconic arena’s all-time Top 10 is destined to be what happened in Monday afternoon’s Atlantic 10 opener, a tense 77-75 victory over Virginia Commonwealth, the conference’s preseason selection as the top team. The Bonnies were voted No. 10 in the 15-team league.
Instead, the game played out as if it was a square-off between the A-10’s No. 1 and 2 teams
There were 16 lead changes and 10 ties and the biggest cushion was six points by Bona with 5 1/2 minutes left.
But the biggest thing that made this game different wasn’t so much on the floor as it was in the stands.
You see, St. Bonaventure is on Christmas break, meaning the only representatives of the student section that has become Bonnies “home-court advantage” were the few within driving distance.
But alas, the folks in the blues and reds relocated their energy and excitement and spent most of the second half standing and screaming, a scene rarely replicated in the on-campus arena’s history.
“IT WAS A great college basketball game,” Bona coach Mark Schmidt said. “They’re a really good team, well-coached, good players … hard to guard and quick … they’re exceptional athletes.”
He admitted (Phillip) Russell we didn’t have an answer for … he played extremely well and we knew he was the guy at his former school (UT-Arlington) and we knew how good he was — I didn’t know he was going to hit 6-for-12 from threes.
“But I thought we were aggressive and to beat that team 48-32 in the paint and to have only six turnovers against that pressure, it was critical. There’s improvement to be made but I thought when we needed to make plays, we made plays. In the Atlantic 10, every game is going to come down to two or three possessions and if you can make plays in those two or three possessions you have a chance to be successful and in this game we made enough plays to win.”
Schmidt conceded, “If their shot had gone in (at the buzzer), we’d be sitting here losing by one. We’re a work in progress, we’re not there, we’re not playing our ‘A’ game and we’re not even close to our ceiling. Every game in the Atlantic 10 is like a playoff game … it comes down to the last two or three possessions. That’s why guys come to play in the Atlantic 10 to play in this kind of environment against a team of that caliber.”
Bona went an incredible stretch of over 17 minutes without a turnover.
“That’s the key, especially against a team of that caliber with those athletes” Schmidt said. “You have to keep them in the half-court … (if not) they’re getting 4-and-3 or 3-and-2 (matchups) and there’s no defense against a live-ball turnover against those guys. Our goal in the game was to keep (turnovers) under 10. That was the big emphasis since they came back after Christmas to make sure we handle the ball … if you’re going to turn the ball over, throw it into the stands … you can’t give live-ball turnovers. You have to play that team 5-on-5 in a half-court game to have a shot.”
THE GAME was tied at 75 when Bona’s Melvin Council Jr. scored on a tough driving layup with just over three seconds to play.
That left Russell just enough time to break 4,190 Bona fans’ hearts.
He got an open look but his bid for a seventh and game-ending trey hit the back of the rim and bounced harmlessly away.
“It’s 3.2 seconds (left) and you’ve got a decision to make,” Schmidt said. “You can go 2-2-1 and try to keep the ball in front of you but if you’re going to tell me he’s going to take a 35-footer, you live with that. We contested it and it is what it is. Anybody’s going to get a shot off and you try to contest it as tough as you can without fouling. It’s a tough situation but I thought we did a decent job. If he makes it, that’s all you can do.”
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun and Olean Star senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
