Photo: GoBonnies
BY NATHAN SOLOMON, MANAGING EDITOR
St. Bonaventure fell behind by as many as 11 points in the first half but outscored Middle Tennessee State by 13 points in the final 20 minutes to win 71-64 on Wednesday.
The Bonnies (5-2) won their fourth game in a row after defeating Notre Dame on Friday.
“We told our guys this is like playing an Atlantic 10 team,” Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said of MTSU. “Early on, they got the best of us physically … But we found a way. For a young team, we found a way to deal with adversity and to keep on fighting.”
Bonaventure was outrebounded by nine in the first half as the Blue Raiders (5-3) hauled in 10 offensive boards for eight points and controlled the paint, 22-12.
Bonaventure trailed by six at the break and tied it with a Barry Evans dunk just five minutes into the second half. Yet the Bonnies couldn’t fully gain a lead.
Eventually, five straight points from Chad Venning gave Bonaventure a one-point lead with 6:32 remaining.
Suddenly, Kyrell Luc took over. He scored 14 of his 22 points in the final six minutes, including a late jumper and four game-sealing free throws.
Luc also hit a 30-footer with the shot clock expiring in the first half to rejuvenate the Bonaventure offense in an early lull.
“Just run the offense. Just run the offense hard … They were overplaying us on the wings, so backdoor cuts, little stuff like that,” said Luc. “Just playing off my teammates.”
With 38 seconds remaining, Evans blocked an Elias King 3-pointer, bringing the Reilly Center crowd to pandemonium. The fans started to feel it.
Daryl Banks lll went to the line, hitting six free throws in the final minute to put the finishing touch on the victory.
Schmidt praised how Bonaventure closed Wednesday’s game after close losses to Canisius and South Dakota State earlier this season.
“It’s easier to close out at home,” Schmidt said. “We did a better job. We hit our foul shots. We got some stops. We need to get better at end-of-game situations.”
Banks scored 15 points off 3-for-9 shooting. He opened the game with consecutive 3-pointers, reaching 1,000 career points. He scored 890 points in three seasons at Saint Peter’s.
“It feels amazing,” said Banks on the accomplishment. “It’s the first time I get to do it. I didn’t get to do it in high school.”
Bonaventure narrowed the rebounding margin down to one at the end of the game (31-30) and shot 49% from the field. The Bonnies turned the ball over 15 times compared to 12 times for the Blue Raiders.
Schmidt found positives in the victory despite a sloppy outing and recognized the team has much room to grow.
“We’re just trying to get better every day,” he said. “The goal is to come to practice every day and improve. We have a young team, we’re still so far away from where we need to be. We play in spurts, but we need to play consistently. Our expectations are always the same — we’re trying to win.”
Brett Rumpel made his NCAA debut Wednesday after redshirting his freshman year and missing the first six games to injury. He went scoreless in two minutes.
“It’s great to have him back,” Schmidt said. “He hasn’t played in a month and a half, two months. You try and put him out there and ease him into it and this is a tough game to ease him in with the athletes [MTSU] has … I thought just getting him in and getting him a little time will benefit him and benefit us.”
Bonaventure hits the road Saturday to face the University at Buffalo in a Big 4 rivalry. The game is set for 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
