BY TOM SEIPP, MANAGING EDITOR.
At halftime, St. Bonaventure was shooting just 32% from the field, being held to 25 points in the first 20 minutes. The Bonnies were looking to avoid their third consecutive loss against the VCU Rams, but had a 15-point deficit to overcome.
They did exactly that.
The Bonnies used a 21-3 run to comeback in the beginning of the second half to help them outscore VCU by 31 points in the second half to secure their fifth straight victory, 70-54.
“Since I’ve been here as a coach, in my opinion, that’s the best half we’ve played, both offensively and defensively,” St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said. “It just showed how good our guys are.”
“We weren’t really aggressive enough in the first half, but we always emphasize defense in practice, and I think they played a big role,” Dominick Welch said on the second half. “I’m really proud of our defense.”
“[VCU] came out in the first half and hit us in the mouth,” Jaren Holmes said. “Second half we had to come back and punch them two more times.”
In the first half, VCU used a 9-0 run to end the first half to extend their lead to 15, their largest of the game. The Bonnies were struggling mightily offensively and VCU was dominating in the posts, as they secured 13 first half offensive rebounds.
“[The team] was disappointed in how they played at both ends [in the first half]. We didn’t have the energy, we weren’t fundamentally sound, they took it to us,” Schmidt said on their first half performance. “The whole first half was a sore spot.”
It was a completely different game in the second half, as the Bonnies defense was the best it’s been all season. VCU was held to just five field goals and only 14 total rebounds; the Rams turned the ball over eight times.
During the Bonnies 21-3 run, St. Bonaventure had a stretch where they made eight straight field goals. The Reilly Center quickly turned into dunk city, as dunks from Jalen Adaway and Osun Osunniyi helped tie the game and then gave the team the lead.
The Bonnies ended the game on a 16-1 run over the final 9:15 of the game; VCU was held without a field goal over that time.
“It was no real changes,” Schimdt said on the adjustments to the second half. “We played how we’re supposed to play. We have good players, who are really competitive, who were disappointed on how they played in the first half, and they responded.”
“To hold a team to 14 points is absolutely extraordinary at this level,” Holmes said on the Bonnies second half effort.
All of the Bonnies five starters played at least 35 minutes today, with four of the five playing the entire second half.
Welch led the Bonnies with 19 points; he had five three-pointers. Holmes had 18 points and Lofton had 12 for the Bonnies. Osunniyi and Adaway both had nine points.
“This is a special group. Not only that, it’s the right group of guys. We’re really together, this is a family. We wouldn’t want it to have it any other way,” Holmes said of the team. “We want to be the best, and we want to win an A-10 championship.”
The Bonnies now regain sole possession of first place in the Atlantic 10, as they are now 5-1 in the conference.
The Bonnies were originally scheduled to play St. Louis on Saturday, but because of COVID-19 protocols, the Billikens are not able to play yet. Instead, the Bonnies will travel to Pittsburgh, as they will take on Duquesne on Saturday at 7 p.m. Last Friday, the Bonnies beat Duquesne at the Reilly Center, 62-48.
