By Joe Ceraulo, Sports Staff
A Courtney Stockard layup with 3.4 seconds remaining propelled the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team to a 63-61 win over the University of Maryland in the semifinals of this year’s Emerald Coast Classic.
Stockard stepped up in a huge way with 14 points on an off night from the team’s leading scorer, Matt Mobley.
Mobley was benched to start the game because he showed up late to a team meeting and struggled to find his groove. Although he led the team with 16 points, he was just 3-12 from the field and 0-5 from three. His perfect 10-10 shooting from the free throw line was down the stretch.
Freshman guard Izaiah Brockington started for Mobley and scored eight points.
“We came out tonight looking to make a statement and turn this season around, and we did just that,” said Brockington. “Now we got to keep this momentum rolling and get a win versus TCU tomorrow.”
The game was tight throughout, as Maryland went into the locker room leading 31-30 at the half.
The second half would be a sequence of runs. First, a 7-2 start for Maryland, followed by an 8-0 run for the Bonnies. The Terps responded with a 14-4 stretch, giving them a 52-44 lead with 8:19 remaining.
St. Bonaventure kept playing catch up, as two successful free throws from Stockard tied the game at 53 with 4:07 left.
It wasn’t until sophomore forward Josh Ayeni hit two free throws with 34 seconds left that the Bonnies would take the lead, 61-59. He’d finish with 11 points.
Maryland sophomore guard Anthony Cowan answered with two free throws at the 25 second mark to tie it before Stockard’s late game heroics sealed the deal for the Bonnies.
Ball protection was the key to this win, as St. Bonaventure turned it over just nine times, while forcing a season high 20 by Maryland.
The Bonnies play TCU tomorrow in the championship game of the Emerald Coast Classic at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports.
cerauljg16@bonaventure.edu
