BY WILL POLADIAN, SPORTS EDITOR
St. Bonaventure turned as cold as ice in the second half to drop its final non-conference home game to Florida Gulf Coast, 71-58, on Friday.
“It seemed like we were fatigued,” Schmidt said. They were a step quicker than us all night. I thought we fought, we just couldn’t make the plays when we needed to.”
The Eagles (9-3) started the game off hot with a 14-6 run to give them the early lead.
The Bonnies (6-5) got right back into it with a 9-2 run of their own capped off by back-to-back 3-pointers from guard Daryl Banks III.
Banks led St. Bonaventure in scoring with 18 points while also tallying four rebounds, one assist and three steals.
The game continued back and forth with four ties and three lead changes before the Bonnies edged out a 33-31 lead at the break.
The Eagles continued their energy as they went on a 10-2 run to open the second half.
“The second half started off and we had a good possession,” Schmidt said. “We didn’t block out to get a layup and it went downhill from there.”
St. Bonaventure attempted to fight back into the game but the Eagles would not allow it.
With 9:55 left, Banks hit a 3-pointer to bring the deficit to within five, but guard Dahmir Bishop hit a bucket to extend the Florida Gulf Coast lead. Bishop ended with four points and four rebounds.
Yann Farell hit a 3-pointer to bring the lead to within six with 5:56 left, but guard Caleb Catto hit a bucket in transition to extend the lead once more.
Catto ended with three points and six rebounds.
Farell led the Bonnies with 10 rebounds on the night.
Center Andre Weir slammed home a dunk with 3:22 left, extending the Eagles lead to double figures and sealing the win for Florida Gulf Coast. Weir ended with 10 points and four rebounds.
“We just didn’t do a good job finishing both on the offensive and defensive ends,” Schmidt said. “We couldn’t get a rebound and missed some easy ones inside. When you do those things, that’s not a recipe for success.”
Chase Johnston led the Eagles in scoring with 22 points, shooting 54% from the floor and 50% from 3-point range. He also tallied four steals and three rebounds.
Behind Banks’ performance, forward Chad Venning scored 15 points with seven rebounds and four blocks.
“It was frustrating not being able to facilitate [in the second half] that’s really all I can say,” said Venning.
The Bonnies went cold in the second half, only shooting 24% from the field compared to the Eagles 54%.
“We just got to come out to play and we got to play way harder,” Banks said. “They beat us with all little effort things so we got to go back to practice and change our habits and go back to work.”
Meanwhile, for the game, St. Bonaventure shot 34% from the field compared to the Eagles 48%.
Bonaventure outshot the Eagles from behind the arc 35% to 32%.
Florida Gulf Coast controlled the glass all game, out rebounding the Bonnies 41-28 while St. Bonaventure forced 15 turnovers to the Eagles 10.
“When you get out rebounded by 13, it’s hard to win,” Schmidt said.
The Bonnies go on the road to play Siena in hopes to retain the Franciscan Cup on Monday. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
“There’s no excuses for it,” Banks said. “We’ve got to come up with a plan. That’s really it.”
poladiwj20@bonaventure.edu
