By Mikael DeSanto
Sports Editor
The St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team took a loss in Atlantic 10 action Saturday, losing 71-59 to the Rhode Island Rams.
The Bonnies (13-7, 5-3 A10) struggled to score in the paint, being out-scored 38-18 by the Rams (13-7, 5-3 A10) around the basket. The teams nearly equaled each other in rebounds, with the Bonnies having the slight edge 42-41.
Despite scoring 21 points off 17 Rams turnovers, the Bonnies never held the lead.
The game stayed close early in the first half, with each team going on stretches of scoring through the first seven minutes. But the Rams took control starting at the 11:22 mark of the first half, going on a 10-2 run to take a 22-14 lead mid-way through the half.
Junior guard Jaylen Adams and the Bonnies continued to try and makes pushes throughout the rest of the half, but the Rams had answers for each basket scored. Adams scored eight points over the final seven minutes of the first half but the game went into halftime with the Rams up 32-22 over the Bonnies.
Adams eight gave him a team-leading 11 points at the half, while senior forward Kuran Iverson led the Rams with eight points.
The Rams started the second half by scoring five straight points, all by senior forward Hassan Martin, but the Bonnies kept applying pressure, out-scoring the Rams 11-6 over nearly three minutes to keep the deficit at 10.
As the Bonnies continued to try to break into the lead and make the deficit more manageable, the Rams were able to keep them at bay heading into the halfway point of the second half, holding a 51-39 lead at the 10 minute mark.
The teams went scoreless from the 9:35 mark until the 7:57 mark, when they traded baskets. Following this, the Bonnies went on an 11-0 run to cut the lead down to 55-52. However, Martin quickly took the game into his own hands, scoring five point in a row to bring the lead back up to eight.
The Bonnies began to intentionally foul with under a minute left to play, but aside from three free throws from Adams, would not score much more, and the Rams would secure the win.
Adams topped the Bonnies for the game with 25 points, while freshman forward Josh Ayeni contributed all 10 of their bench points. Senior forward Denzel Gregg and junior guard Matt Mobley each grabbed 11 rebounds.
Martin led the Rams with 20 points, but they also received 13 from junior guard E.C. Matthews and 12 from both Iverson and junior guard Jared Terrell.
The Bonnies will next play Wednesday when they head to Duquesne to take on the Dukes at 8 p.m.
desantmj13@bonaventure.edu
