The Bonnies and Ramblers are set to meet with both eyeing a pivotal A10 win
By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — It’s no secret, when it has come to crunch time in Atlantic 10 play, the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team has struggled.
Last time out against La Salle, the Bonnies held a late lead. But for the fourth time in the five conference games they have played, that lead — and in turn, victory — was swiped away in the dying moments.
Head coach Mark Schmidt knows this is a problem and has pointed out that when opposition defenses tighten up at the end of close games, his players are finding it difficult to create space and execute the game plan.
“We’re having a hard time creating space when the defensive pressure intensifies,” Schmidt said. “We’re trying to get some guys that can break guys down, because at the end of the game (teams are) switching ball screens and it’s about executing. Sometimes it’s just one guy making a play, and we’ve had teams make plays against us, and we haven’t made enough plays in the last two or three minutes. Same thing with La Salle, they just took us off the bounce, they got into the paint and we had a hard time contesting shots and walling up. It’s been a problem all year because of our length, but it’s more magnified because every game we’re playing those threes and fours are bigger than us.”
There were some positive notes coming out of Bona’s fifth straight loss, but with each pro there came a con. For example, Daniel Egbuniwe, amidst the struggles his teammates have had scoring later on in games, scored 16 of his team’s final 21 points against La Salle, doing all he could to try and salvage a win. Schmidt was certainly pleased with the offensive production he got out of Egbuniwe, but noted that now that while he’s consistently scoring at a good level, he needs more of an effort out of him on the glass, as Bona was out-rebounded and, despite winning the offensive boards, lost the second-chance points category.
“With Daniel, the concern is rebounding,” Schmidt said. “As a four man, he’s got to get more than two rebounds. He’s got five offensive rebounds in five games, and he knows he needs to do better in that area. … Daniel’s not great off the bounce. He’s more of a catch-and-shoot guy. We got some things for him (against La Salle), he found some openings and made some shots, and he needs to do that, but he needs to continue to get better defensively, especially rebounding the ball. If he does that, then we’ll be better, because other than Frank (Mitchell) and Cayden (Charles), nobody’s really rebounding the ball and we need him to do that.”
Another silver lining was that Dasonte Bowen finished the La Salle fixture with a 12-point, 10-assist double-double while not turning the ball over once. His confidence and increased shooting numbers are certainly reassuring, but on the other hand performances like that are negated when the Bonnies allow teams to get to the free throw line in droves. The Explorers went a perfect 20-for-20 at the stripe against the Bonnies.
“(Dasonte’s) got a 4-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, he’s shooting the ball better and he’s making better decisions,” Schmidt said. “But it’s not our offense that’s the concern. We’re averaging 77 points, and we’re shooting 47% and 37% from 3, those numbers are good. What we’re not doing is we’re not getting to the foul line and we’re allowing the other team to get to the foul line. We’re fouling too much and we got to stop that if we want to win.”
Bona will need to go deep into its tool box to alleviate its problems, but those fixes will need to come quick as games only continue to roll and each being more challenging than the last. Its next chance to right the ship will come on Jan. 20 as Loyola Chicago visits the Reilly Center.
The Ramblers have had their fair share of difficulties this season, stumbling through their non-conference schedule with a 4-9 record and sitting 1-5 in conference play. Making matters worse, they have been bitten by the injury bug, which has left the team with inconsistent numbers on the active roster.
Still, Schmidt has his guard up knowing that this Loyola team has an extremely similar immediate goal to his squad.
“They’re talented, well-coached, they run good stuff,” Schmidt said. “They got one of the best big guys in the league. They got good guards. They’ve got hit by the bug, like a lot of teams, but they got talent. They played Dayton the other night and led for a lot of that game. They’ve had some close games. They defend. They’re plus-three on the backboard. They’re a team very similar to us in that they’re not getting to the foul line. … So, that’s something that I know that they need to improve on, and it’s something that we need to improve on.”
The go-to player for the Ramblers will be Miles Rubin, an A10 Preseason All-Conference First Teamer. A lockdown force in the paint, Rubin (6-10) is averaging 11.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and a conference-leading 2.5 blocks per game. He averages by far the most minutes per game for head coach Drew Valentine’s side and has taken the third most field goal attempts of any Rambler.
“He leads the league in blocks, he’s a rim protector and he can play with his back to the basket,” Schmidt said. “His freshman year, he was weak. He’s got much stronger. They go into him in the post, he runs that five-out stuff and he can keep the dribble. He’s highly skilled. But from a defensive standpoint, he can move his feet, he can switch ball screens and he can keep the ball in front of him. He’s a talented player.”
With students set to be back on campus after winter break for the game, St. Bonaventure will look to pick up its first win of the conference season on Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. in front of a good crowd at the expense of Loyola Chicago.
