By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — As the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team prepares to take on Fordham for the second time this season, it will be hoping for a similar, equally successful, result.
The first instance of the two sides clashing came in Bona’s second Atlantic 10 game of the season, the final game of its 14-1 start to the regular season.
In the Bronx, an incredibly efficient afternoon led the Bonnies to an 86-66 victory over the Rams. And while both teams since that game have picked up just two in-conference wins, both are entering their second and final regular season meeting on the calendar with a bit of momentum.
Bona managed to pick up a convincing 75-53 win it truly needed over Dayton last time out, putting an end to a three-game losing streak. As for Fordham, it is riding off the steam it has generated since recording its first two A10 wins of the campaign in its last two games, both under interim head coach, and former Bona assistant coach Tray Woodall who will serve his fourth and final game at the helm in the wake of Keith Urgo’s suspension on Saturday.
But Schmidt knows, “momentum is as good as when the ball goes up and they make the first basket.”
That being said, Schmidt did mention that there were a number of good things he saw from his team last time out against the Flyers that he will hope to carry into this matchup. Most importantly, he saw his players fully start to understand that strictly offense doesn’t lead to wins in the A10, there must be a premium put on defense.
“I thought we played well (against Dayton),” Schmidt said. “I thought we defended well, better than we had. We kept the ball in front of us, they only made eight 3s, and a couple of those were really difficult shots. We took care of the basketball, all the things that you try to do to win a game, I thought we did. We didn’t play great, ball screen defense wasn’t great in the first half, but I thought we fixed that at halftime and beat a team like Dayton, that is really good, convincingly. I think it gives your guys confidence, and it tells you, as a coach, the kids understand all the stuff that you try to emphasize.”
In terms of the defensive responsibilities that Bona will look to put into place ahead of Fordham, a good deal will be dedicated to slowing down the ever-confident guard duo of Jackie Johnson III and Japhet Medor, who are averaging 18.3 and 12.5 points per game respectively, and a new face that Bona has not had to deal with defensively in the form of Joshua Rivera, who was out for the reverse fixture, but is now averaging 10.4 points per game and has scored double figures in his last four games.
“Their guards are playing well,” Schmidt said. “I think Medor was probably struggling when we played him in the first game, but he’s playing really, really well. … Rivera’s back, they didn’t have Rivera when we played them in game one. He had six offensive rebounds in 19 minutes against La Salle. So, he brings the athleticism and the toughness. But, when you struggle and you’re losing, you lose some confidence. But when you win two in-a-row, now you’re feeling good about yourself, and they’re playing well.”
And considering how well the Rams are playing at the given moment, Schmidt doesn’t anticipate much changing in their approach against his Bonnies.
He noted his team will carry that same mindset into the game as well.
“They’ll play the same way,” Schmidt said. “They’re playing better, just like us. We’ll play the same way, and hopefully we’re playing better. … They pressure the ball, they play the ball screens in a certain way and they’ll pick up full-court. They’ll do what they do. They’re not going to change. They’re just hoping to do it better. … At this time of the year, when you’ve played 22 games, there’s not much to change. You are who you are. You just try to hopefully do it better.”
This means that Bona will have its eyes, once again, towards the paint.
Despite shooting a staggering 48% from 3-point range and an overall 50% from the field against Dayton in its last game, Bona’s game plan against Fordham will work from the inside-out.
Noel Brown and Xander Wedlow were incredibly successful for the Bonnies in their previous matchup against the Rams, the former scoring 14 points while the latter recorded four points and picked up five boards in 18 minutes. They will be the focal point again and look to get the better of the Rams’ bigs Abdou Tsimbila and Matt Zona.
“We just want to play the way we want to play,” Schmidt said. “We want to try to get the ball inside off the pass or the dribble. Noel and Xander have been playing really, really well for us, they need to continue to do that. It’s gonna be a great battle. Tsimbila is a back-to-the-basket, athletic guy. (Zona) is a screen-and-pop guy and presents problems because he can really shoot the ball from 3. So it’s going to be a challenge.”
A focal point for the Bona offense going into the Fordham fixture will be Lajae Jones. After his electric night shooting the ball against the Flyers, going 6-for-10 from deep and 8-for-12 from the field while picking up seven rebounds, the question will be whether or not his hot hand carries over against the Rams.
“He can move his feet, when he’s engaged, he can rebound, he’s really athletic, but, right now, he’s got to get better off the bounce,” Schmidt said of Jones. “But he can really shoot the ball and when he’s shooting it, we’re that much better. He got us off to a great start against Dayton.”
Melvin Council will be looked to as an offensive asset as well after his 18-point, five-rebound, seven-assist bounce-back performance against the Flyers.
Of course, Bona will be looking to score just as big of a victory as it did the first time around. And where others may see the score of the previous matchup and worry if there will be a sense of complacency ahead of the game, Schmidt has no such anticipation considering the losses it has endured since then.
“I think it’d be different, maybe, if we were on an eight-game winning streak, and they were the first team in that winning streak,” Schmidt said. “But we can’t take anybody lightly. … Our guys understand if you don’t play well, no matter who you’re playing, if it’s the best team or the last team, if you don’t play well, you’re going to lose, and we’ve seen that with us. We’ve seen that throughout the league. So, if we lose, it’s not going to be because we overlooked anybody. We’re not good enough to overlook any opponent.”
St. Bonaventure will look to complete a home-and-away sweep over Fordham for the first time since the 2019-20 season on Feb. 1 with tip-off set for 12:30 p.m.
