By SPENCER BATES
DAVIDSON, NC — For the sixth time this season, the difference between a win and a loss for the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team came down to a shot at the buzzer.
And fortunately for Bona, for the second time in as many games, the opposition’s shot at the horn ended up off target, despite giving up a half-decent look at a near-half court heave.
This time, the missed shot saw Bona survive 64-61 on the road against Davidson in its regular season finale. The miss was a sight for nervous eyes as the Bonnies saw their 11-point second-half lead slowly chipped away by their hosts and one missed free throw with mere seconds on the clock left the door open for a miraculous overtime-inducing effort.
“We made that run in the second half, (but) we had other opportunities,” Bona coach Schmidt said. “We missed layups, we had some open shots that could have expanded the lead, but we knew they were going to come back. I just thought that we gutted it out.”
The first half of the affair was relatively even. The Bonnies and Wildcats found themselves scoring at a relatively similar rate, entering the halftime intermission knotted up at 34 apiece, and with crucial categories like points in the paint, fast-break points and rebounding still there for the taking.
Bona managed to pull away in those categories in the second half, paving the way to its victory, but equally as important were the contributions of Duane Thompson and Noah Bolanga. The duo combined for nine points off the bench, seven of which belonged to the latter. But those points hold a lot more weight considering they were scored while playing out of their usual positions. A circumstance brought on by the recent injury to Xander Wedlow, and the first-half foul trouble Noel Brown found himself in.
“Noel got in foul trouble in the first half and I thought when we went small with Duane and Lajae (Jones) at the 5, sometimes we had Noah at the 5, we hung in there,” Schmidt said. “And that, to me, was the difference in the game.
“We out-rebounded them by eight, points off turnovers, we won 15-11, points in the paint, we won by two, (we won) second chance points, which was big, and fast break points, (we won) 10-2. When you win those, you have a legitimate chance of winning. And I just thought we competed. We don’t have good size with Xander out, I thought Duane was doing what he can physically against the bigger guys, but we found a way.”
With Thompson and Bolanga playing extended minutes in atypical spots, Bona had a small lineup on the floor for a good portion of the affair, leading to more downhill, driving looks at the basket and frozen rope passes around the horn. Again, Schmidt mentioned, this was the result of the injury circumstance his team finds itself in.
“We try to swing the ball and drive it, we don’t really have much else that we can do,” Schmidt laughed. “We try to space it out, swing the ball, get it moving, and then we have guys that can go off the dribble and attack. We missed the foul shot at the end, but I thought we did a good job defending at the end and it was a good victory. Playing on the road, it’s always hard to win.”
But injuries or not, early in the second half, Bona hit a vein of success that was sparked by Noel Brown being inserted back into his normal position. Brown began the second half with eight straight points for the Bonnies and ended up finishing the game as their leading scorer, netting all 16 of his points in the second half, a response Schmidt was happy with and that saw him claim the Bona Belt.
“We came out in the second half, we got the ball to Noel and (he) really did a good job of scoring inside, and that’s what you need,” Schmidt said. “We’re not a great 3-point shooting team, we shoot 5-for-24 again (from 3), we got to get the ball inside, and I thought we did that.”
And with Davidson’s last-gasp effort falling short, Bona secured its fourth win in its last five games, a trend that gives the team some momentum heading into the “second season.” But Schmidt made it clear, momentum means nothing until you pick up a win at the tournament.
“Momentum is important, but when the ball goes up at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, whoever we’re playing doesn’t matter,” Schmidt said. “In tournament play, one, you can’t play not to lose. And two, you got to win that first game. Once you win that first game, then you get some momentum and go on.”
Based on its final position in the A10 regular season standings, Bona received a bye in the first round of the bracket and is locked into the No. 8 vs No. 9 seed game which will take place on March 13 at 11:30 a.m. in the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.
