By Jonathan Sawyer
Sports Editor
Coming off a home loss to non-conference rival Canisius Golden Griffins, the Bonnies turned things around in their A10 conference opener against the Massachusetts Minutemen.
Going into halftime the Bonnies led the Minutemen, 43-35. The first half went back and forth, with the Bonnies trailing for the only time in the game after the Minutemen’s redshirt junior guard Zach Lewis knocked down a three ball.
At 7:29 of the first half is when head coach of the Minutemen Derrick Kellogg said the turning point of the game was. Freshmen forwards Josh Ayeni and Brison Gresham were involved in an altercation that would earn both of them a double flagrant technical foul, which means ejections for both players.
With the Bonnies already down graduate transfer center Chinoso Obokoh, and Ayeni being tossed, they relied on freshman forward Amadi Ikpeze and senior forward David Andoh to hold it down in the paint.
The Bonnies exploded out of the half, going on a 11-5 run and extending their lead to 14, and from there they would take control of the game. The Minutemen would cut it to nine with 2:09 left in the game, but the Bonnies would knock down free throws to end the game and go to 1-0 in conference play.
Junior guard Jaylen Adams led the charge with 29 points and five rebounds. Adams fouled out for his second straight game with 2:27 left to go in the game. Fellow junior guard Matt Mobley stepped up and dropped 23 points and grabbed four rebounds. Senior forward Denzel Gregg scored 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds and took away two blocks.
Junior guard Donte Clark led the Minutemen with 19 points and dished out four assists. Sophomore center Rashaan Holloway provided down low scoring with 15 points and six rebounds.
The Bonnies improve to 9-4 on the year and will head back home to the Reilly Center to take on the Dayton Flyers on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
