Photo: GoBonnies.com
BY NATHAN SOLOMON, SPORTS EDITOR
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Twenty-nine days ago, St. Bonaventure narrowly left Pittsburgh with a victory over a Duquesne, a team that hasn’t won since Jan. 8.
But, Saturday’s game in the Reilly Center was a completely different story, as the Bonnies led for nearly 37 minutes in an 81-55 thrashing of Duquesne.
“There’s a sense of urgency and our guys are stepping up,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said. “We couldn’t have played better today.
St. Bonaventure (17-7, 9-4 A-10) allowed the opening basket to Duquesne (6-19, 1-12) but assumed control shortly thereafter. Two 11-0 runs in the first half powered the Bonnies to a 39-22 lead at the break.
St. Bonaventure never let up in the second half, leading by as many as 36 with 7:36 to play. Late in the game, Schmidt cleared the bench with all dressed players seeing the floor. Duquesne hit a few late shots, but St. Bonaventure still walked away with a marginable victory.
“We defended really well,” Schmidt said. “When we defend and when we rebound, we can be pretty good.”
Duquesne shot just 35% from the field and leading scorer Primo Spears was held without a field goal. The Dukes also made just five of their 21 free throws.
“Spears was known and we held him to without a basket,” Schmidt said. “I thought our guys came out in the second half — the first five minutes was a huge key.”
Jalen Adaway led St. Bonaventure with 21 points in the Bonnies’ fourth straight game shooting the ball 50% or better. Osun Osunniyi scored 18 points on 7-of-7 shooting and became the third Bonnie in as many weeks to surpass 1,000 collegiate points.
“My teammates put me in position to make easy baskets,” said Osunniyi, who scored 21 points and recorded 17 rebounds earlier this season against Duquesne. “I’ve been in kind of a slump in the beginning of the year, but I’ve just been staying in the gym and just working on my game.”
Dominick Welch also added 16 points to continue his hot shooting streak. However, Kyle Lofton and Jaren Holmes combined to shoot just 5-of-17 in the victory.
As a team, the Bonnies made 35% of their 3-pointers and outrebounded the Dukes by 17. They turned the ball over 12 times.
Next up, St. Bonaventure concludes its four-game homestand when Rhode Island comes to town on Tuesday. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
solomonj20@bonaventure.edu
