PHOTO: St. Bonaventure Athletics
BY NATHAN SOLOMON, SPORTS EDITOR
PITTSBURGH — Osun Osunniyi scored 21 points, recorded 17 rebounds and blocked six shots as St. Bonaventure led for nearly 39 minutes in a 64-56 victory over Duquesne.
“[Duquesne] is a good team,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said postgame. “If you win championships, you’ve got to win games on the road, and we’ve won two out of three [Atlantic 10 games].
“We executed under pressure, which is good to see.”
The Duquesne Dukes (6-10, 1-3 A10) scored first off a Primo Spears jumper, but St. Bonaventure (11-4, 3-1) quickly snatched the lead on a 23-5 run to take a 16-point lead just 12 minutes in. Duquesne opened the game on just 2-of-16 shooting, but a 9-2 run in the final minutes of the half cut the Bonnies’ lead to just 11.
“The guys understood we needed to get off to a good start,” Schmidt said. “I thought our guys came out with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and had a sense of urgency, especially defensively. “
Duquesne opened the second half on a 6-0 run and cut St. Bonaventure’s lead down to three with 12 minutes left. But, a pair of Osunniyi dunks 37 seconds apart sparked a 12-4 run for the Bonnies’ to give an 11-point cushion.
“[We] knew [Duquesne] was going to make their run,” Schmidt said. “We didn’t get off to a good start in the second half, we gave them some life, but we executed when we needed to execute.”
The Dukes stayed pesky, cutting their deficit to six with just 93 seconds left. However, an alley-oop finished by Osunniyi with just over a minute remaining sealed the deal for an eight-point victory for the Bonnies.
“[Osun] was the difference,” Schmidt said. “Having 13 offensive rebounds speaks for itself. When we needed baskets, he did a great job off offensive rebounds, and that’s when he’s most effective.”
Adaway and Holmes added 16 points apiece for the Bonnies off a combined 14-of-29 shooting. Dominick Welch added six but was 0-for-6 from deep. Kyle Lofton scored just three points, matching a career-low set against Virginia Tech last month.
As a team, the Bonnies shot 45% from the field and made 3-of-12 attempts from deep. All three makes were consecutive in the waning minutes from Adaway, Lofton and Holmes.
St. Bonaventure held Duquesne to just 36% shooting and outrebounded them 41-37. Spears scored 18 points for the Dukes and Tre Williams added 15. Just four Duquesne players scored.
Next up, Duquesne will travel to Philadelphia to challenge Saint Joesph’s. For St. Bonaventure, they’ll conclude their three-game road swing at George Mason on Wednesday night.
“Hopefully, we can go down and prepare well and play a really much improved George Mason team,” Schmidt said.
Wednesday’s game between St. Bonaventure and George Mason tips at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
solomonj20@bonaventure.edu
