By Pat Tintle
Sports Editor
After the men’s basketball team saw a three-game skid, the Bonnies have won three of their last four games, as they took down Saint Louis on Wednesday by a score of 64-48.
Granted, the Bonnies’ three wins came against teams with records under .500, and their one loss in that span was by 23 points to George Washington, but the Bonnies have done something that they had failed to do throughout the season—beat the teams they are supposed to beat.
But as the Atlantic 10 tournament looms in the near future, some players have fit well into new roles.
Senior forward Andell Cumberbatch scored 17 points in the Bonnies’ win over the Billikens. Cumberbatch shot 7-14 from the field, recording two three pointers as well, to help the Bonnies post an impressive 46.2 team field-goal percentage. While Cumberbatch faced criticism to start the season, there is one senior on the St. Bonaventure campus not suffering from senioritis.
Also contributing to the good shooting night for the Bonnies, junior forward Dion Wright scored 16 points, going 7-10 from the field. His nine rebounds and two steals only cement Wright as the Bonnies’ most consistent and confident player on the court. Wright led the team with 39 minutes, and with only 10 shots, proved that the forward is a selective as he is accurate.
Freshman guard Idris Taqqee played 32 minutes Wednesday night—his longest appearance of the season. Taqqee scored eight points in his playing time and also grabbed six boards and snatched two steals. While Taqqee’s impact has been limited this year, a new guard has risen as an important piece for the A-10 tournament.
With the absence of freshman guard Jaylen Adams (whom CBS Sports reported will return for the A-10 tournament, although the university has yet to comment), junior guard Marcus Posley has been thrust into the point guard position. But rather than taking unnecessary and frustrating, shots, Posley has settled into his new (if temporary) role well. Posley recorded a modest 10 points in the victory over Saint Louis, and had five assists; evidence that the junior is content with shying away from the spotlight when for the benefit of his team.
More encouraging than the Bonnies’ 46.2 field-goal percentage was their defense against the Billikens. The Brown and White held the blue and white to a 33.3 field-goal percentage and held all Billikens to single-digit points, with the exception of junior guard Ash Yacoubou, who scored 11 points. True, the Billikens are only 3-14 in A-10 play, but a dominant performance for the Bonnies can only be encouraging this late in the season.
The Bonnies’ final game of the regular season is tomorrow at 4 p.m. as Fordham travels from one side of the state to the other. The Rams sit in 12th place in the A-10 with a 9-19 (4-13) record. But after dropping its first nine conference games, Fordham has been 4-4 in its past eight games. While they remain a low-tier college basketball program, the Rams’ recent improvement could just be enough to give the Bonnies a late season challenge.
