By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — For a team that has played just three official games together, the maturity, togetherness and dedication within the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team stands out.
In its season-opener against Bradley University, the Bonnies banded together to pull out a big-time win on a big stage. Against Canisius, they emptied their bag of tricks — nailing the deep ball and dominating in the paint. And in their 75-66 win over Siena in the 15th annual Br. Ed Coughlin Franciscan Cup, they showed that no amount of pressure will cause this team to crumble.
“It’s just the third game, I’m still learning their names,” Bona head coach Mark Schmidt joked. “Guys are still learning each other, how they play, their strengths and weaknesses. They’re still learning the system, but hopefully we’ll be a better team come January, February, March, that’s the goal. Having 11 new guys and trying to get them all involved in what we’re trying to do, it’s difficult. But I thought our work ethic has been really good. We’re not playing well all the time, we make our errors. But I thought tonight we played hard and, to me, that makes up for a lot of the sins.”
The Bonnies’ road to its third consecutive Cup victory was no easy one. The Saints, after having been pummeled in the rivalry fixture last season, were a team on a mission. In the first half alone, they out-rebounded the hosts, had more second-chance points and forced seven turnovers.
Bona stayed in the game, but between spells of time with no baskets and the efficient hand of Siena’s Gavin Doty — who finished the game with a career and game-high 25 points, eight rebounds and four assists — neither side led by more than six points and there were nine lead changes in just the first 20 minutes of action.
That is why it was so important the Bonnies conjured up the response they did.
“Give Siena credit, Gerry (McNamara)’s doing a great job with those guys and they’re going to win a lot of games,” Schmidt said. “That was a test. They were physical, they were big, they got every loose ball in the first half it seemed like. But I thought our guys responded. Everybody talks about our 3-point shooting and all that, but we just won a game making three 3s. (We won) 46-20 in points in the paint. … I just thought we played hard. We didn’t play perfect, but we beat a really good Siena team.”
St. Bonaventure’s Joe Grahovac (32) rejects Siena’s Gavin Doty (4) at the rim. Grahovac recorded four blocks for the Bonnies in their win over the Saints. (Hunter O. Lyle)
In the second half, Darryl Simmons II, Cayden Charles and Frank Mitchell led an impassioned charge that eventually took Bona beyond the reach of Siena. The trio, slowly establishing themselves as the team’s usual suspects, combined for 52 points. Simmons had the most of the bunch with 24 points on 9-for-13 shooting. And much like the Canisius game, it was this team’s ability to adapt that allowed him to be so effective.
“I was seeing that they were going under my ball screens the first time,” Simmons said. “So we re-screened it and after we did that all we saw was a wide open lane, so I just shot the pull up middies. I’ve been working on that a lot lately, that’s why they’ve been going in. … And once the 2 started going in, the 3 started dropping.”
Charles, winner of the Bona Belt, finished with 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting with nine rebounds, five of which were offensive. Mitchell went for another double-double, his second in a row, with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
“Siena is just a great team, a scrappy team, and we knew that coming in,” Charles said. “In the first half, they got way too many loose balls on us, they had so many second-chance points and that’s just not acceptable. But in the second half, we cleaned it up. We played hard, not smart and I think it’s important for us to really look at the film tomorrow and see what we can improve on.”
Charles also surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his collegiate career in the win, but was quick to dismiss the spotlight.
“All it means is that I’ve been playing for a minute,” Charles joked. “It’s a nice accomplishment. I’m sure my mom probably likes it more than me, but hopefully I have a lot more points to go.”
St. Bonaventure’s Cayden Charles (24) pulls up for a jumper in the face of a Siena defender. Charles finished with 15 points and nine rebounds against the Saints. (Hunter O. Lyle)
Charles is the exact type of player Schmidt admires. Transferring in from Div. II North Georgia, his work ethic and knowledge of the game has Schmidt thanking his lucky stars they have him on the roster.
“We talk about Division Three, Division Two, Division One, there’s players all over this country,” Schmidt said. “(Charles is) a blue collar guy that knows how to play. He’s been well-coached in high school and at his former college. We’re happy to have him and blessed to have him. He’s just a guy that’s relentless.”
Over the course of the second half, despite Doty’s best efforts to keep his Saints in the contest, the Bonnies pulled away thanks to their dominance in the paint and stout defensive effort. Which, according to Simmons, would not have been possible if it were not for the level of maturity in the team.
“I feel like everybody’s been buying into the main goal of what we want to do, and we’ve been doing the little things,” Simmons said. “Everybody is listening to the guys on our team and giving each other advice. Nobody’s really getting mad or taking criticism in a bad way, we’re actually taking it in a good way, (and that) helps the team out.”
St. Bonaventure’s Dasonte Bowen (5) makes an acrobatic pass under the basket. (Hunter O. Lyle)
This was a significant game for Schmidt’s squad. This is a Siena team that is trending in an upward direction, that has managed to keep its core of players together through the portal season, and is under the leadership of a coach with a vision for the program. The win gave Schmidt a big glimpse as to what his team is made of.
“We got tested tonight, and I thought we responded,” Schmidt said. “It was a blue collar approach. You watch tape of Siena and you don’t know their size and their physicality until you see them. And I thought we matched it.”
St. Bonaventure, which has now won three Franciscan Cups in a row for the first time since 2016-2018, will now carry the momentum of consecutive rivalry wins into its next game, against Youngstown State, slated for Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. at the Reilly Center.
