By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — After the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team dropped its second conference game in a row, co-captain Noel Brown mentioned how this is a point where the team can either splinter or it can grow together.
Bona coach Mark Schmidt is hoping for the latter.
The 83-82 overtime loss to La Salle on Jan. 11 was the Bonnies second consecutive loss in Atlantic 10 play, but it was also the first time all season they had dropped back-to-back games. This was the reason for Brown’s sentiment. But he said that if they are to “grow together” after the loss, they will need to accept that they took one on the chin and now is the time to learn from those mistakes.
“We know we’re not going to win every game,” Schmidt said as he echoed Brown’s thoughts. “Our goal is to try to win every home game, and that’s difficult. You’re going to have your bumps in the road, it’s how you deal with adversity, not just in basketball, but in life. I always tell the guys, basketball is a microcosm of life, you’re going to get knocked down and you got to get up. You got to have some tough times and you got to get up and fight. We’re being challenged. … Now you just got to bounce back, learn from it, grow from it and get better.”
On Jan. 15, Bona will look to do just that as it welcomes Richmond to the Reilly Center for a matchup between the two longest tenured coaches in the A10.
The Spiders, led by coach Chris Mooney, currently boast a 7-10 overall record, but are 2-2 in-conference, the same as Bona.
One of the calling cards for this year’s Richmond team is its depth. Nine of its players average double-figure minutes per game. But according to Schmidt the solution to that is simple: guard.
“We got to guard better, we got to keep guys in front of us, that’s the challenge,” Schmidt said.
“Their guys are really good with the ball, that’s why it’s never going to be one-on-one. It’s going to be two-on-one, three-on-one. We got to get into the gaps, we got to get back in transition. Against La Salle we gave up 27 points off of turnovers. You just can’t do that. … We got to keep it in the half-court, you got to try to keep your turnovers under 10 and try to keep it a five-on-five game. If you do that, you have a better chance of guarding them. And Richmond, just like every other team, when they get out in the break, they’re good. When they get numbers, they’re good. We got to try to keep it in the half-court as much as we can.”
Of those nine players that see good minutes for the Spiders, they sport a trio of bigs that Schmidt is keen to keep quiet despite the different roles each are used for in-game. Dusan Neskovic and Apostolos Roumoglou are 6-foot-8-inch forwards while Mike Walz is a 6-foot-11 center that will give Brown a like-for-like matchup down low.
But, according to Schmidt, the responsibilities of Brown, Michael Folarin and Xander Wedlow will not just be limited to interior defense. He noted that Mooney likes to use the big bodies on his team in a number of different areas and it will take a flexible effort to keep them from making a large impact.
“You got to be able to guard them, they’re good,” Schmidt said of Richmond’s trio of bigs. “They can pass the ball, you got to pressure them a little bit. … Noel and (Michael) and Xander will be pushed tomorrow, they’ll be challenged. The big guys are playing on the perimeter, they’re not solely back-to-the-basket guys. They run a lot of ball-screen stuff. So, the 5-man is going to be out on the perimeter to try to move their feet and try to keep the ball in front of them.”
However, the Spiders will be without their leading scorer on the season in DeLonnie Hunt, who underwent surgery for an injury he picked up prior to their most recent loss to Rhode Island. So, if they follow a similar script to what they did against Rhody, the new go-to guy will be Neskovic, the only other player on the team averaging double-figures in the scoring column.
And while a team missing its best scorer may give their opposition a boost in confidence, Schmidt remains cautious as he knows from his side’s last two results: it can be the “other guys” that do the most damage.
“They got good players, and those guys have to be more aggressive,” Schmidt said of Richmond’s next-men up. “They played at Rhode Island their first game without Hunt and those role guys had to become go-to guys. They’re aggressive. (Neskovic) played extremely well, he’s really, really talented. He can shoot it, he can take you off the bounce. Hunt was the go-to guy. Now, they have another go-to guy and they played well against Rhode Island and had a chance to win. So they’ll be ready to play.”
As for the Bonnies themselves, they will look towards Brown to continue his string of success on the offensive side of the floor, scoring double-figures in each of his last seven games. They will also look to Lajae Jones, who grabbed a Div. I career-high 24 points last time out against La Salle.
“Offensively, he’s getting more comfortable,” Schmidt said of Jones. “He’s in the gym, the guys are looking for him. He’s still got a lot of improvement to do rebounding the ball and defending his position which is always the last thing that comes.”
Bona and Richmond are set to tip-off in the RC on Jan. 14 at 7 p.m.
