By Jonathan Sawyer
Sports Editor
The Bonnies extended their winning streak to four games Monday night as they took down the Army West Point Black Knights, 92-83. Junior guard Jaylen Adams set a career milestone, entering the 1,000 point club with a corner three point shot in the first half. Adams would go on to score 31 points and dish out 10 assists.
“I join a bunch of other Bonnie greats, I just hope I can keep scoring,” Adams said when asked about the milestone, but he was happy he got there.
Head coach of the Bonnies, Mark Schmidt, didn’t think Adams was going to be this good when they recruited him, but said he has a tremendous work ethic and has a skill set to score at the three different levels.
“He has a great understanding of how to play. He’s got a good skill set and he’s getting stronger,” Schmidt said. “You put all those things together, and he has a lot of freedom and playing with other guys that can shoot the ball. He’s a productive player.”
The Bonnies trailed the Black Knights most of the game, until 10:37 left in the second half when senior forward David Andoh knocked down a three ball to bring the Bonnies within one. On the next possession, Adams would drive to the rim and find Andoh open in the corner, who would drill his second in a row. Andoh went on to hit his third three in a row to give the Bonnies a 68-67 lead. He ended the game with 15 points and four rebounds.
“He gave us the lift we needed, it came at the right time too when we really needed to make a push to get that lead,” senior forward Denzel Gregg said on Andoh’s contribution late in the second half.
Schmidt said both Gregg and Andoh played great roles tonight.
“Offensively they hit big shots. Denzel has a double-double had some big offensive rebounds. David did a great job of screening and popping. It’s hard when you have two guys who can shoot the ball,” Schmidt said.
The Black Knights came out on fire beyond the arc, knocking down seven of their first nine, ending the first half with eight made. The Bonnies and Black Knights would enter halftime tied at 43.
Defending the three is one thing Adams believes the Bonnies need to work on more.
“I mean I know one thing we struggle with is three-point percentage defense. That’s one of those things we tried to work on tonight they just came out hitting shots,” Adams said.
Letting up eight threes in the half, Adams said they tightened up their defense and played with more energy.
“We played with a little more intensity defensively, we rotated better and they were getting in the lane a lot for kick outs, and that was a big problem. I think we did a better job defending the ball and that led to more missed shots,” Adams said.
Head coach of the Black Knights, Jimmy Allen, said the three ball is a product of his personnel and philosophy.
“We work hard at it, and certainly in games where you don’t match up quite as well talent wise in some areas, it can be a pretty nice equalizer,” Allen said.
The Bonnies pressuring the Black Knights in the second half opened other options for them.
“They got up a little bit more and pressured the three and that definitely helped with being able to create some space for Matt [Wilson] and go inside to him,” Allen said. “For us we want to play fast, we want to put pressure on people in transition as much as we can and get the ball moving.”
Allen said the Bonnies are really good especially with Adams and junior guard Matt Mobley leading the way.
“Those two guards put a lot of pressure on you off the bounce and Denzel Gregg is a great compliment to those guys, and certainly Andoh and they have got really good offensive rebounders,” Allen said.
Gregg, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds, said on defense they needed to just stay in front of the ball because, “Everything was out of dribble penetration and kick outs, that was one thing we focused on.”
Adams knows he and Gregg need to step up at the end of game, but also knows he has good role players to help them out.
“We got a bunch of good guys who can produce any given night. I guess late in the game we just kept attacking and that’s the mentality we have to have throughout the rest of the season,” Adams said.
The Bonnies would finish the game 53.7 percent from the field (29-54) and 38.9 percent from three (7-18). Mobley contributed 12 points and seven rebounds on the night.
The Black Knights would finish 46.8 percent from the field (29-62) and 47.8 percent from three (11-23). Freshman forward/center Matt Wilson would finish with 20 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Jordan Fox would lead the team with 22 points and dished out five assists.
The Bonnies will take on the Canisius Golden Griffins on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Reilly Center. This will be the Bonnies final non-league game.
sawyerjp15@bonaventure.edu
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