By Jonathan Sawyer
Sports Editor
Junior guard Jaylen Adams missed his first game in almost two years with an ankle injury, and his absence showed, as after the seven minute mark of the first half, the Bonnies started to go cold with shooting.
The Bonnies had a 12 point lead with 7:18, but the undefeated Richmond Spiders kept chipping away at that lead, bringing them within three as they went into the locker room at halftime.
The Spiders came out of the half going on a 13-5 run to take a 40-39 lead. The Bonnies would never regain the lead after this. They would hold their deficit between five or six points until the last five minutes, when the Spiders opened up the lead, knocking down four three point shots to put them up 12.
The Bonnies continued to fight back but the lead got away from them and they dropped their second conference loss of the season. Junior guard Matt Mobley scored a team high 17 points and grabbed five rebounds.
The Bonnies bench was shallow tonight, missing freshman forward Amadi Ikpeze, who had flu like symptoms, and graduate forward Chinoso Obokoh, who has been out since early in the season. His last game was against Arkansas-Little Rock. Also missing was junior forward Courtney Stockard, who went out with a season ending foot injury for the second straight year.
The continued health issues will be something to look at as the season progresses, as it would provide the Bonnies with needed depth.
Freshman forward Josh Ayeni exited the game with 11:59 left in the 2nd half, fouling out for his fifth time this season. Ayeni was also assessed a technical foul for an incident after the whistle.
Senior forward Denzel Gregg also exited the game, fouling out with 10 points and nine rebounds. The Bonnies were without their floor general, which showed his importance on the floor. Sophomore guard Nelson Kaputo received the start in place of Adams, and he came out and scored the first six points of the game.
The Bonnies were 40 percent (21-53) from the field and 31 percent (5-16) from beyond the arc, and were outscored in the second half 51-31. They were not quite blown out, however, staying right there with the Spiders in other statistical categories. These included total rebounds (33-32 for Richmond) and points off turnovers (18-17 in favor of Richmond).
The most significant stat line was moving the ball around for only 11 team assists to the Spiders 22 assists, which is one factor that Adams normally brings to the floor, spreading the ball around and drawing defenders to open up others.
The Bonnies will have only a couple days to reload as they head to Rochester, N.Y. to take on the Fordham Rams at Blue Cross Arena in the Lightower Conference Classic. Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m.
sawyerjp15@bonaventure.edu
