By Anthony Gannon
Sports Editor
The Bonnies (3-2) host Buffalo (2-6) tomorrow night, trying to rebound from Wednesday night’s 69-64 loss to Ohio.
The Bulls have one win in their last five games. Buffalo’s last game was a 54-39 loss to the Bonnies’ Atlantic 10 foe Temple.
The Bonnies’ loss to Ohio came down to a one-possession game in the final seconds, but Ohio hit free throws in the final minutes to put the game out of reach.
“The effort was there,” Coach Mark Schmidt said. “So I can’t complain about that. But when you shoot 14 for 25 from the foul line, it’s tough to win close games.”
Senior guard Eric Mosley led the way for the Brown and White with a career-high 19 points, including a 6-for-8 night behind the three-point line.
“Eric shot the ball really well,” Schmidt said. “He can go on those spurts like that and he kept us in the game. We need guys off the bench with some firepower.”
Chris Johnson continued his hot start with 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field. Senior guard Demitrius Conger and junior guard Charlon Kloof each scored 10 points for St. Bonaventure. Conger crashed the boards the most for the Bonnies, grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
Senior forward Marquise Simmons followed up his double-double against Niagara with five rebounds and six points.
“We played hard,” Schmidt said. “I think it gives our guys confidence playing well on the road. But when you’re in a position to win in a one possession game, we felt like we should have won.”
Johnson also grabbed five rebounds and sophomore center Youssou Ndoye scored two points and brought down six boards for the second most Bonaventure rebounds. Mosley scored 12 points in the first half behind four three pointers.
Down 53-45 early in the second half, the Bonnies eventually gained a 56-53 lead on two free throws by Conger. The Bobcats’ D.J. Cooper tied the game with a three and took a quick two-point lead on a Nick Kellogg layup.
Tied at 58 with 4:57 left in the game, Bonaventure fought in the next 4:08 minutes to take a 64-63 lead with under a minute to go.
Cooper hit a three with 38 ticks left on the ensuing possession to put the Bobcats ahead for good. The Bonnies were only able to get two shots up in the final seconds and Kellogg stretched the lead to five with six seconds left to put the game completely out of reach. The Bobcats’ undefeated start is their best in 33 years.
Ohio coach Jim Christian credited the Bonnies’ style of play and said the game could have gone either way.
“Every night isn’t going to be pretty,” Christian said. “I give Bonaventure a lot of credit, they didn’t quit. They answered our runs. They’re a veteran, experienced, physically strong basketball team.”
Bonaventure out-rebounded the Bobcats 34-27 but turned the ball over 20 times against Ohio’s 13 turnovers.
“They’re forcing 24 turnovers a game and we did a better job in the second half,” Schmidt said. “They made some shots at the end, some plays at the end that we didn’t. And if we had made a few more foul shots it would have been a different game.”
