BY JONNY WALKER, MANAGING EDITOR
St. Bonaventure guard Daryl Banks III upped his scoring total to 29 in Wednesday night’s game at the Reilly Center, hitting his third of three free throws with under two minutes to play.
Rather than jumping up in excitement, however, many Bonnies fans hung their heads, shuffling toward nearby exits.
The free throws cut Bona’s deficit to nine but proved too late as Bonaventure ultimately fell to Fordham, 79-68, Wednesday night in the Reilly Center.
Bonaventure led, 30-28, at halftime, but an 8-0 Fordham run early in the second half gave the Rams a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The result — just Bonaventure’s second home loss of the season — propelled the Rams (16-4, 4-3 A-10) above the Bonnies (10-11, 4-4) in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings.
Many of Bonaventure’s key players entered foul trouble early in the second half. Forward Chad Venning and guard Moses Flowers fouled out later in the half. Bona head coach Mark Schmidt said Fordham’s aggressive play caused his team’s foul trouble.
“They played harder consistently,” said Schmidt. “We didn’t handle the ball. We didn’t handle their pressure.”
Foul trouble forced Schmidt to experiment with new lineups late in the second half. Forward Anquan Hill spent time at center in Venning’s absence as Bonnies fans witnessed a slew of unusual lineups.
For Fordham, forward Khalid Moore led with 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Guard Darius Quisenberry finished second on the team with 17.
“Quisenbury can really score,” said Schmidt. “He got to the foul line 13 times.”
With about 14 minutes left in the second half, referees gave Bona forward Anouar Mellouk a technical foul following a scuffle with an opposing player. Bonnies fans disagreed with the call, becoming substantially more boisterous over the following ten minutes of play.
Schmidt said even with the crowd’s renewed energy, he did not think his team was on the verge of going on a run.
“We have a hard time scoring” Schmidt said, dismissing the crowd’s potential to flip the game’s outcome. “We got to defend. We got to rebound.”
The Bonnies travel to Richmond, Virginia Saturday to play Virginia Commonwealth University. Schmidt said he expects his players to be ready for the 6 p.m. tip.
“Just like they should respond,” said Schmidt on how his players should respond to Wednesday’s loss. “We have a 24-hour rule, and we go back to work tomorrow and get better.”
walkerjc20@bonaventure.edu
