By SPENCER BATES
ROCK HILL, SC — The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team tipped-off its 2025-26 season a long way away from home.
But 639 miles away from the Reilly Center, Darryl ‘Buddy’ Simmons II still heard his name chanted in response to his cold-blooded performance that led to a season-opening 69-63 win over mid-major powerhouse Bradley University.
“The feeling was amazing, to be honest with you,” Simmons said. “I give all the praise to the most high, to Jesus Christ, because I couldn’t be out here without him. It was amazing hearing all the fans just cheering me on. It was a wholesome experience.”
The Bonnies had controlled the first half of their season-opener against the Braves, a matchup part of the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon. They held an eight-point lead after the first 20 minutes behind another stellar outing from Cayden Charles, who showed out in the team’s final exhibition against Div. III Alfred University. But come the second half, Bona’s smooth ride became littered with potholes.
Several scoring droughts that lasted two or more minutes in combination with an increased effort by Bradley on the offensive end, saw Bona’s lead evaporate. What was at one point a 13-point advantage, the Braves had turned around into a six-point deficit.
“I think we got stagnant a little bit,” Bona head coach Mark Schmidt said. “We missed some shots, and they were scoring the ball, they were driving it. When they’re scoring, it puts a little bit more pressure on your offense to score. We’re not nearly good enough in any facet of the game. We got to continue to get better and hopefully we can be playing our best basketball in February.”
Stuck in the mud, the Bonnies needed a pick-me-up in a big way. Fortunately for them, Simmons was there to put the train back on the tracks.
With a number of massive baskets at crucial times, Simmons’ confidence was unshakeable. He powered the Bonnies on big scoring runs and with mere seconds left, drained two clutch free throws to provide the dagger.
“He can really score the ball,” Schmidt said. “He can shoot the ball, he’s tough, and he’s not afraid. That’s what we need him to do. He needs to put the ball in the basket for us, he did tonight and hopefully he can continue to do that. He’s going to get better, he still doesn’t know what he’s doing. But he’s going to be a guy that we can put the ball in his hands and he can get a shot for us.”
Simmons finished with a game-high 24 points and stuffed the stat sheet with five rebounds, four assists and three steals as well.
“It was an amazing experience,” Simmons said of his first game in the Brown and White. “I really love how all the fans came out and supported us. They told me before I committed here that the fans always come and support, even if it’s an away game. So, it was pretty cool. My teammates helped me out. They always gave me the confidence to keep on shooting, even when I was missing two in a row.”
It was Simmons’ confidence that gave everyone else around him a boost as well. Charles, after a quiet second half, still finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Frank Mitchell nearly had himself a double-double with 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. And Joe Grahovac had himself a nice opening day with 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
“The whole game I was talking to my team,” Simmons said. “I told them that it’s a long game, there’s going to be ups and downs, but (there are things) we always have to keep that constant: we always got to play defense and do the little things to win those games. I always tell them, ‘just keep on being confident in yourself because we practice for a reason, we wake up early in the morning to be here, on November 3, to work out and get a win.’ And that’s what we wanted to do, get a win.”
Charles, who has formed a strong leadership tandem with Simmons in the very early goings of the season, echoed his counterpart’s thoughts on the momentary struggles the team had. He noted that there is an understanding within the Bona locker room as to why each of them are there, and this is not only because of their basketball talent, but their ability to look adversity in the eye and not blink.
“Obviously we’re going to have our little slumps and the other team is going to go on runs, but it’s just really about continuing to push and continuing to press,” Charles said. “We’re a resilient group. That’s how Schmidt built this program. So we didn’t panic. None of us panicked. We just kept saying, ‘keep going, shots are going to fall.’ And obviously Buddy took over for us late.”
His team’s first game of the season showed Schmidt a lot. Most of all, what he can expect of his players moving forward.
He knows they are capable of rolling with the punches and responding even more emphatically. He knows what weaknesses there are and what needs to be done to address them. Luckily, this squad will be able to learn those lessons with a tally in the win column as opposed to the reverse.
“The positive about this was we won and we handled adversity,” Schmidt said. “You don’t know what you have with players until you hit some rough spots. We hit a rough spot, and our guys, they gathered themselves and they fought back. … They beat us like we want to beat teams: by driving the ball. So, it was a good victory. Bradley is a good defensive team, so now we know how guys are going to guard us and now we can work on those things. It’s always good to win, and then be able to watch it and see what we need to improve on.”
St. Bonaventure’s opening-day win streak now stretches to six years. It will take that 1-0 record back to the Reilly Center and look to build upon it in its home-opener on Nov. 8 at 4 p.m. against Canisius.
