St. Bonaventure men’s basketball is… almost… back. The Bonnies opened up the Reilly center, playing host to the Alfred University Saxons Wednesday, the second exhibition game of a double header with the women’s basketball team.
The starting lineup for the Bonnies featured three guards, Sophomores Kyle Lofton and Dominick Welch, Freshman Alejandro Vasquez, and two forwards, redshirt sophomore Bobby Planutis and senior Amadi Ikpeze.
The Bonnies took to the floor for the first time since losing in the Atlantic 10 championship game last March.
The Bonnies showed some rust in the first half as they accumulated eight turnovers and missed on their first 11 3-point attempts. In spite of the lackluster play by the Bonnies, the team headed into the locker room with a 34-21 lead on the Saxons.
The Bonnies flipped the script in the second half with their 3-point shooting, hitting threes on three consecutive possessions. The team finished the half 7-13 on 3-pointers and 7-24 for the game
The team also tightened up its ball control in the second half, committing only three team turnovers in the final 20 minutes. With less turnovers and more 3-pointers, the Bonnies finished the game winning 90-45.
Throughout the game head coach Mark Schmidt put the freshmen on display. Vasquez played 27 minutes and finished with a game-high 20 points, 3-7 on three pointers. Robert Carpenter played 18 minutes and had a near double-double with nine rebounds and a with 10 points. Justin Winslow matched Carpenter’s rebounding efforts, grabbing nine rebounds of his own and blocking three Alfred shots, all in 21 minutes of game action.
“A game like this you try to play everybody, especially your young guys,” said Schmidt. “Try to get them comfortable in this type of environment with the lights on.”
Planutis, also playing his first career game in a Bonnies uniform, preformed up to par. Planutis shot 5-7 from the floor with one three pointers and finishing with 11 points for the game.
The sophomore returners also played trying to shake off some rust. Lofton scored three points on 1-5 shooting, while Osunniyi scored six points on 3-6 shooting. Welch connected on two three pointers and posted eight points for the Bonnies.
Despite the victory for the Bonnies, Schmidt did not put too much positive stock into what he saw from his team, but instead saw a great deal of room for improvement.
“There were some good things,” said Schmidt. “but there are a lot of things we need to work on both defensively and offensively.”
Overall, Schmidt and the Bonnies took home a victory against the Saxons , but look forward to getting back to work before the home opener against Ohio University Tuesday, Nov. 5.
“Hopefully the guys get comfortable,” said Schmidt. “and we can go back to work tomorrow and get ready for the season.”
John Pullano, Sports Editor
pullanjj18@bonaventure.edu
