By Jonathan Sawyer
Sports Editor
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team fell to the Florida Gators Thursday night in a fought hard battle, 73-66. The Bonnies trailed as much as 15 at one point in the second half.
The team never gave up, cutting that deficit in the second half to tie that game at 66, with junior guard Matt Mobley knocking down a free throw part of his three-point play.
On the next Gators possession, the Bonnies freshman center/forward Amadi Ikpeze blocked redshirt junior center John Egbunu on his lay-up attempt. The Bonnies junior guard Jaylen Adams had a wide open look at a three point shot from the corner which would have put the Bonnies ahead for only there second time of the game, but the shot rimmed out.
The Gators would go to foul line after Adams picked up his third foul of the game. The Bonnies would have another opportunity to take the lead as Mobley attempted a three-point shot and that missed. On this shot, the Gators would get the rebound and have two players wide open at the other end, one being Egbunu, who would receive the pass and go up for a dunk to extend the lead to four with 11 seconds left.
The Bonnies final attempt would be turned-over by Mobley, which would be the last straw for the Bonnies, as their 15 point come back fell short.
Mobley was a stand out player in the game, knocking down three three-point shots and scoring 12 of his 28 points within the last six minutes of the game.
The Bonnies leading scorers were Mobley with 28 points, six rebounds and two assists and Adams with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Idris Taqqee was the Bonnies top rebounder with nine and added seven points. The team shot 38.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc.
The Bonnies had the advantage on points off turnovers with 23 and the Gators with 22. The team was good off second chance points, putting back 17 points to the Gators 12. The one statistic that the Bonnies struggled on was getting bench points, scoring only seven to the Gators 25.
The loss puts the Bonnies at 1-1 on the season. The team will be back in action on Monday, as they are a part of the H-E-B Center Lone Star Showcase in Austin Texas. The Bonnies start off with Arkansas-Little Rock, then on Tuesday they will play Central Michigan and end the showcase Wednesday with Pepperdine.
sawyerjp15@bonaventure.edu
