By SPENCER BATES
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the face of an unforgiving VCU squad, the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team saw its hopes for Atlantic 10 glory shatter.
In its second game in as many days, the Bonnies found themselves sputtering on the offensive end of the floor and lacking a fluidity that resulted in a number of empty possessions. But unlike in their second-round game against Duquesne, which they won 64-59 on March 13, there was no coming back. VCU made sure of that.
Where Bona was able to rally against the Dukes, it was unable to do so against a clinical and ruthless attack from the Rams, as the tournament’s No. 1 seed and co-regular season champions toppled the Bonnies 76-59 in the A10 Quarterfinal.
But Schmidt & Co. were not without a chance.
In the second half, Bona showed flashes of its ability to claw back into games, cutting what was a 13-point VCU lead to just five points. However, another few mistakes and in the blink of an eye, the Rams erupted on an extended 17-7 run, not only restoring their lead, but expanding upon it, putting the Bonnies in a hole it was unable to dig out of. A response that VCU coach Ryan Odom was happy with considering how Bona managed to complete the comeback in its second-round game.
“They’re good, they’re going to score, they’re well coached, and they get the ball where they need it to go,” Odom said of Bona’s ability to claw back in games. “You’re not going to shut them out, but what you have to do is withstand some of those runs. And I thought that at that moment, our guys made some good defensive plays that turned into offense for us and we just kept going from there. But we certainly are well aware of their ability to turn a game quickly. They certainly did that yesterday, and that’s why they were playing today.”
What ultimately condemned the Bonnies was a lack of fluidity on the offensive end of the floor. They were unable to get much out of center Noel Brown, who finished with just six points to his four turnovers. His lack of production, combined with the slew of injuries that came to plague Bona, led to them losing the battle in the paint 38-26.
“We got the ball inside, we had a hard time making decisions inside,” Schmidt said. “We struggle when Noel gets six points and four turnovers. We didn’t lose just because of Noel, but we need to have production inside because we’re not a great shooting team. In order for us to win, we need to have more points in the paint. But give VCU credit, they’re long, athletic, and they make it a little bit more difficult.”
St. Bonaventure guard Melvin Council Jr. (11) rises up for a contested jumper in the face of VCU’s Zeb Jackson (2). Council shared a game-high tally of 19 points for the Bonnies. (Hunter O. Lyle)
Compounding the problems for Bona was the fact that VCU was incredibly effective shooting from the field, draining 42.6% of its shots on the day, and that the Rams scored 21 points off Bona’s 13 turnovers.
“You can’t beat a team like VCU with the athletes that they have when you get out-scored 21-6 in points-off-turnovers, and (when we lose) the paint, that’s usually our strength,” Schmidt said. “I thought in the second half, we did a much better job of rebounding the ball, getting second-chance points, fast-break points. … But, every time we missed, they went down and they made us pay for it.”
VCU’s star trio of Max Shulga, the A10 Player of the Year, Joe Bamisile and Zeb Jackson each had relative amounts of success. Bamisile and Jackson finished with 13 and 14 points respectively, but it was the impact of Shulga that made a big difference. While he had a significant off-night shooting the ball, going 1-for-9 from the floor, he dished out 11 assists with no turnovers to his name.
“If someone told me (Shulga) was going to get two points, I would have been like ‘Man, we got a shot,’” Schmidt laughed. “But you look at him and he just controlled the whole game. (He had) 11 assists and zero turnovers. (VCU has) everything you need, to not just get into the NCAA tournament, but to make a run in it.”
And while the Bonnies may not have finished the A10 tournament in the fashion they would have liked, having suffered a 15-point loss, the sentiment of the season, the fans and the community around the team was not lost on one of the team’s co-captains, Melvin Council Jr.
“I just love the support that we got here,” Council said. “The fans travel to away games and I just want to give it back to the fans and the community of Olean.”
As for the team’s other co-captain, Noel Brown, he was emotional after capping off his A10 career in his own backyard, having grown up in Northern Virginia.
“Playing here and finishing up (my career in D.C.) was, I feel like, an ode to me at (George Washington) and an ode to my mom as well. I know she’s out there just smiling and beaming because she’s one of those people who tell me, ‘Go out, make a mistake, just stop being so shy, go make a mistake.’ Part of life is making mistakes, part of life is losing, learning how to lose and appreciating what’s going on in the moment is the beauty of the journey. And I can’t say that it’s more beautiful than it has been at St. Bonaventure.”
St. Bonaventure guards Melvin Council Jr. (11) and Jonah Hinton (8) bring the ball up the court during the team’s loss to VCU in the quarterfinals of the A10 men’s basketball tournament. (Hunter O. Lyle)
And in the wake of the loss, Schmidt made sure to pile on the credit to his captains and all they managed to lead the team through over the course of the season.
“They’re great leaders, and they do it the right way,” Schmidt said. “Both of those guys have great leadership skills, and you can’t teach that, either you have it or you don’t. They did a tremendous job. The season was up and down. We started off really well, then we hit a tough spot and we lost three or four in a row. And if you don’t have good leadership, you can splinter so give our guys, all of our guys, but especially these two guys, credit. I always say, what I say in the locker room is really important, but what is said when I leave that locker room is most important. And when you have good leadership, what is said in the locker room is accurate and it’s positive. So, we were lucky to have those two guys as captains. They’re one of the reasons why we had the success that we had this year.”
But the team’s opportunity for more success is not completely gone as of yet. Schmidt noted at the end of his postgame press conference that his team would be “excited” to play in a competition such as the NIT if it was to extend an invitation.
St. Bonaventure finished its season with a 22-11 record.
