Photo @BonniesMBB/Twitter
BY WILL POLADIAN, SPORTS EDITOR
The Davidson faithful traveled in droves to the Barclays Center as the Wildcats took down St. Bonaventure, 65-54, Wednesday afternoon in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
“It was being keyed in on our defensive principles, following the scouting report, locking in on the film that we watched leading up to the game,” senior guard Foster Loyer said. “Really just trying to take what we did well and emphasize it, and try to force them into situations. Our guys did a great job of just being active right from the get-go and just playing on our toes.”
Both teams traded baskets to start, tying the game up at 14 before Bonaventure (14-18, 8-10 A-10) went on a 4-minute scoring drought.
A redshirt sophomore forward Chad Venning putback ended the skid bringing the game to within one.
“We knew that this was going to be a match-up of two All-Conference-level big men,” Davidson head coach Matt McKillop said. “I don’t know why [Venning] was left off that team, but I think he very well could have been.”
But a 7-2 run by Davidson (16-15, 8-10 A-10) brought the lead to eight with a redshirt junior guard Moses Flowers 3-pointer breaking the run.
With under a minute left in the half, sophomore guard Kyrell Luc converted on an and one, bringing the lead to within one.
Loyer hit a 3-pointer as time expired to bring the score to 31-25 at the half.
He led the way with 9 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor while grabbing four rebounds.
For Bonaventure, Venning totaled eight points for the half with two rebounds.
“We wanted to do our best to keep him off-balance, not too different from the first game,” McKillop said. “Now we should have double-teamed him every time, because he was that effective offensively.”
Davidson shot 41% from the floor and 18% from 3-point range while turning the ball over twice.
The Bonnies shot 39% from the floor and 33% from 3-point range while turning the ball over six times.
The Wildcats came out the half hot, going on a 7-0 run in the opening two minutes.
“We just locked in,” said sophomore guard/forward Desmond Watson. “We came into the huddle and that’s just what we had to do.”
A Venning putback off a Luc layup breaks the run.
The Wildcats continued to match shots as after a Flowers jumper, Loyer matched with a 3-pointer.
“We just got close,” St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said. We just couldn’t get that big stop. We couldn’t make that big shot.”
This continued as both teams battled back and forth until a Watson slam off a freshman forward Yann Farell turnover ultimately iced the game, sending the Wildcats to the next round to take on Virginia Commonwealth University.
“We were never a good offensive team,” Schmidt said. We don’t have that one guy that can break guys down and get to the basket. We won one game this year where the opponent scored more than 70 points.”
Watson led the Wildcats in the second half with 13 points, ending the contest with 17.
Loyer ended the game with 14 points while forward Sam Mennenga ended with 12.
Leading the Bonnies, Venning ended with 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting with six rebounds while Flowers and Luc had 10 points apiece.
“It’s the first time they’ve ever played in the Atlantic 10,” Schmidt said. “The offseason is always important from a skills standpoint and from a strength standpoint. Now they’ve got to go back and work on the things that they aren’t as good at.”
poladiwj20@bonaventure.edu
