Photo: GoBonnies
BY NATHAN SOLOMON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
St. Bonaventure cruised into the halftime break with a 38-23 lead, firing all cylinders. It felt like one of the Bonnies best – and most complete – halves of the season.
Think fast.
The second half was a complete 180. Bonaventure went cold in the final 20 minutes, making just seven field goals in 26 tries and allowing Duquesne to get back in contention.
Fortunately for the Bonnies, it was just barely enough. Bonaventure held off the Dukes, 65-56, to win its second game in a row in front of 4,107 at the Reilly Center.
The Bonnies improved to 4-2 in Atlantic 10 play with the victory and 10-9 overall.
“It was a really good defensive game,” said Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt. “To beat Duquesne and hold them to 56 points, that’s a heck of an effort by our guys.”
The Dukes (13-6, 3-3 A-10) finished the game 19 points below their season average, shooting just 35% from the field and 27% from deep.
But as the second half progressed, Duquesne made enough shots and got the stops needed to claw back into the game. Trailing by 20 with 12:02 remaining, the Dukes went on a 16-2 run over nearly minutes to cut their margin to six.
That, however, would be the closest Duquesne got. Bonaventure freshman forward Yann Farell forced a backcourt turnover for an easy layup and redshirt sophomore forward Chad Venning connected on a pair of free throws to get it back to 10.
The Dukes cut it down to seven twice more – the latest being with 2:19 remaining. Duquesne failed to score from that point on, and a pair of split trips to the free throw line for Bonaventure sophomore guard Kyrell Luc and redshirt junior Moses Flowers sealed the game.
“We weren’t scoring, we were missing stuff, we missed some shots inside,” Schmidt said of the second half. “It’s those times where we have to slow down and really execute.”
Redshirt junior guard Daryl Banks lll continued his ramped scoring pace, recording a game high 15 points. He hit three total threes – two coming in the first half to help the Bonnies open a 20-3 lead eight minutes in.
“I just try to do what I can do to help the team win, even if it’s not points,” Banks said.
Banks added four steals in the defensive effort.
“We got to make sure that even if we’re cold on the offensive end that we’re still taking care of the defensive end,” Banks said. “If we’re not getting stops and we’re not making shots, then that’s how they get back into the game.”
Each of the nine Bonnies who played recorded points. Farell made all four of his shots for 11 points and Luc added 10. Sophomore forward Anquan Hill hit a three off the bench and redshirt freshman Brett Rumpel got a basket in six-plus minutes.
Venning scored 12 points and hauled in four boards, marking a game best +15 on the floor.
“I wasn’t really focused on [scoring], I was just trying to help our team win,” Venning said. “It feels all right, but I feel like I can contribute a little bit more for all of us.”
Jimmy Clark lll led Duquesne with 12 points. Tre Williams had 11 and R.J. Gunn added 10. Dae Dae Grant, the team’s leading scorer, had just four points and missed all five field goal attempts.
Bonaventure will travel to face newly acquainted A-10 member Loyola-Chicago on Saturday, where the squad is in pursuit of its first road victory.
“You have to play so much better on the road to win,” Schmidt said. “We just got to play better. We got to defend, we got to rebound, we got to take care of the ball, we got to make our foul shots.
“We got to play like we did the first 15 minutes like we played tonight. I’m not sure that’s going to be good enough, but it’s going to give us a chance.”
solomonj20@bonaventure.edu
