By Jonathan Sawyer
Contributing Writer
Saturday, the men’s club basketball team concluded its season in style. The Bonnies faced Niagara, who was missing a few players to start the game. Heading into the first half, the Bonnies got out to a 13-point lead, and continued to roll in the second half, winning the game, 55- 40. Leading all scorers for the Bonnies was senior shooting guard Mike Arena with nine points.
The Bonnies played with a lot of intensity. An alley-oop dunk by sophomore shooting guard Kyle Williams from sophomore point guard Marcus Welch was a turning point in the game. These two seemed to know where the other was on the court at all times.
“It’s pretty fun to watch, he’s so animated with the ball. Playing with Kyle is a really fun experience, because he can shoot 30-footers and make them,” Welch said about playing with Williams and how they gel together. “It’s fun, he is definitely another athletic player, and when we run in the open court you know something is going to happen.”
Game two was a shoot-out in the first half the score went back and forth until the Bonnies got out to a big first half lead, 41-34. The second half, the Bonnies came out explosive.
Sophomore shooting guard, Kyle Williams came out on fire with a 16-point second half, finishing the game with a team-high 20 points. Also right beside Williams was, Welch finishing with 14 points. As a pair, they combined for 34 of the Bonnies’ 81 points. As a team, the Bonnies out-played Niagara in second half, stretching the lead to as much as 30 points, winning in convincing fashion, 81-62. This game marked the highest score this season for the Bonnies.
Game three, it was all Niagara for most of the game until the second half, when Bona’s second unit entered the game. They erased a 20 point deficit, playing a hard second half of basketball.
“When we needed a boost, they really dominated,” Welch said about the second unit coming into the game late to help recover a big deficit. Coming down to the final seconds, sophomore point guard, Pat McMahon made two free-throws after Niagara called a time out with no timeouts left, which resulted in a technical foul. Heading into overtime, the Bonnies jumped out to an early six-point lead and headed to the line with confidence, sinking clutch free throws and sealing a 69-67 win.
The Bonnies are still awaiting news to see if they have received an invitation to the National Tournament in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Bonnies finished the regular season with an 8-7 record.
sawyerjp15@bonaventure.edu
