By Jeff Uveino, Staff Writer
After all of the preseason national media attention that was centered on St. Bonaventure men’s basketball, the team suffered a loss in its first game of the season.
A raucous Friday night crowd at the Reilly Center couldn’t help the Bonnies overcome the Niagara Purple Eagles, who came away with a 77-75 win and has left the Bonnies looking for ways to improve.
“We allowed them to get dribble penetration, and gave up too many open threes,” said Steve Curran, assistant coach. “We didn’t shoot the ball unbelievably well, but we allowed them to shoot over 40 percent. We just didn’t play the way we were supposed to play.”
Niagara was led by senior guard Khalil Dukes, a transfer student from the University of Southern California. Dukes had 23 points and went 6-8 from three-point range. “He could probably play in the A10, a terrific player,” Curran commented on Dukes.
Following the loss, Bonnies coaches and players stressed the importance of defense, something that they struggled with against Niagara.
“We just let them score too many buckets,” said Idris Taqqee, senior guard and team captain. “We didn’t get enough stops. We’ve been working a lot on closing up, just communicating and making sure guys are matched up. It’s really simple. Those are things we’ve got to take care of.”
Taqqee had six points and three rebounds against Niagara.
Curran also stressed the improvement that needs to be made on the defensive end if St. Bonaventure is going to have a successful season.
“We’ve been doing a ton of drills this week to get ready to play Maryland Eastern Shore and working hard on guarding the basketball,” Curran said. “Taking it personal, we’re trying to get our guys to think about it like that. My guy’s not going to score, my guy’s not going to beat me off the dribble. That’s what we need to do.”
Aside from defense, free throw shooting was another killer for the Bonnies. The team went 21-31 from the line, which works out to 67 percent. Compared to a 77 percent team mark from last year, Coach Curran stressed these missed opportunities as a crucial aspect of the loss.
“We’re always a great free throw shooting team, and we shot below 70 percent,” Curran said. “That was a big, big key in our loss, we didn’t make our free throws.”
The Bonnies certainly were affected by the absence of senior guard Jaylen Adams, who is battling an ankle injury that he suffered in the scrimmage with Alfred University. Starting in his spot Friday night was junior Nelson Kaputo, who scored 11 points in the loss.
“It’s been a tough preseason for Nelson, he hadn’t practiced in a month,” said Coach Curran. “He just started practicing the week prior to the game, so he wasn’t in the best physical shape he could possibly be. I thought he did a pretty good job. He got us 11 points. He’s going to continue to get better.”
Taqqee acknowledged that the Adams injury shook up the locker room, as it is never easy to play without a captain, who also happens to be the leading scorer from the previous season.
“It’s definitely something we didn’t expect, but we’ve just got to roll with the punches, next guy has got to step up,” Taqqee said. “That’s one thing we’re focusing on, never knowing what’s going to happen. Everyone has to be prepared.”
The Bonnies will look to rebound going forward after the team’s second game against University of Maryland Eastern Shore was cancelled due to a power outage. Adams and junior forward Courtney Stockard were both out of the lineup due to injury.
The Brown and White will next face Jackson State University on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 4 p.m. at the Reilly Center as part of the Emerald Coast Classic. The team will travel to Niceville, Florida to continue the tournament by playing the University of Maryland on Friday, Nov. 24 at 9:30 p.m. and either Texas Christian University or University of New Mexico on Saturday, Nov. 25.
