By Pat Tintle
Assistant Sports Editor
For the second straight year, the Bonnies have surrendered the Franciscan Cup to Siena. Last season, the men’s basketball team traveled to Siena to battle for the cup. They fell 72-70 at the Times Union Center in Albany, ceding the cup which they had won at home in 2012.
This season, the Bonnies once again hosted the Saints, with tipoff at 7 pm on Wednesday. The Bonnies made a statement early with back-to-back three point shots from senior guard Andell Cumberbatch and junior guard Marcus Posley, giving the team an 8-2 lead. But Siena answered the Bonnies’ challenge with 8-0 run, pulling ahead 10-8.
Despite a late comeback attempt by the Bonnies, in which both Cumberbatch and Posley would again hit two three-pointers, the Saints held on to their lead, winning 73-70, upsetting the Bonnies on their home court.
Coach Mark Schmidt stated that, although disappointed with the loss, he was proud with his team’s resilience late in the game.
“We could have easily laid down,” Schmidt said. “It’s a good sign that we kept on fighting. No one on this team is going to quit.”
Cumberbatch led the Bonnies with 24 points, including three 3-pointers, to go with his 11 rebounds. Posley was right behind Cumberbatch scoring 22 points with seven rebounds and four assists.
Percentagewise, the Bonnies were on track with the Saints. St. Bonaventure shot for 38.9 percent from the field, with Siena shooting for 39.3 percent. The Bonnies’ 58.3 percent from the foul line matched up with the Saints’ 59.4 percent. St. Bonaventure even recorded 52 rebounds, while Siena only grabbed 32.
But the Bonnies’ offense was inconsistent throughout the night, and often gave Siena more chances than deserved.
“Give Siena all the credit – they played really well,” Schmidt said. “The biggest stat was points off turnovers. We lost by 15, they had 21 assists off of 24 field goals. You look at the rest of the stat line, it’s pretty equal.”
With 16 turnovers, the Bonnies were not able to hold the ball. The Saints were able to convert those mistakes into 20 points – enough to make the difference of the game.
The Bonnies’ inexperience was a major factor in the inconsistent play throughout the game, according to Schmidt.
“We didn’t execute,” Schmidt said. “We lacked discipline, we took some ill-advised shots. They only shot 39% and the goal is to keep them below 40%; but when we broke down we really broke down. I knew there was going to be growing pains. We have a bunch of young guys and in order to win at this level you have to execute. (Siena) did a better job of executing than we did.”
Schmidt acknowledged that with inexperience, overaggressive basketball is to be expected.
“We’re young and sometimes we try to make that spectacular play when you’re down by double digits,” Schmidt said. ” You can’t make that spectacular play, that low percentage play – you have to make a solid play. We didn’t do that at times.”
The Bonnies were not able to adjust to the Saints’ use of zone defense throughout the game. Schmidt stated that his team was not able to capitalize during potential game-changing moments.
“Especially in the first half, we didn’t attack the 2-3 zone well at all,” Schmidt said. “In the second half, we got better. We had opportunities; in the first half we had to cut it to five, then it went back up to 10. In the second half we had the ball down by four and didn’t get a good look at the basket.”
Now sitting with a 1-1 record, the Bonnies will look to bounce back from their first loss of the season next Saturday, as the team will face Canisius (2-0) in Reilly Center at 4 p.m.
