BY WILL POLADIAN, MANAGING EDITOR
With 1:06 left and a packed house full of St. Bonaventure faithful, graduate guard Mika Adams-Woods stepped up to the free throw line after being fouled by Oklahoma State senior center Mike Marsh.
Within the quiet Barclays Center, Adams-Woods drained the first shot. After taking a deep breath and practicing his shooting form, Adams-Woods nailed the last free throw, giving the Bonnies a one-point lead while helping seal the victory.
“We got a lot of learning what to do, but this was a step in the right direction,” said head coach Mark Scmidt. “It gives us confidence. When you lose a game at home [against Canisius], and you never want to lose at home, especially the way we did, but coming back shows us that we have some character on our team, and we can deal with some adversity, and we can bounce back.”
This capped off a 17-point night for Mika, the most for him in his short time at Bonaventure.
He also had four assists and five rebounds in the contest.
“We just wanted to stay together and keep moving the ball,” said Adams-Woods. “I just felt like we all moved the ball more and it was contagious. That’s what got us going and keeping pace with each other.”
Not only did he hit three clutch free throws, but he also went a perfect 4-for-4 on free throws. Making up for the two crucial missed free throws against Little Three rival Canisius last Saturday.
“Coach told me to get to practice and make 50 free throws and that’s what I did the next day,” said Adams-Woods. “In times like that, I just want to grow.”
He shot 6-for-13 from the field and only 1-of-5 from 3-point range. This helped the Bonnies shoot 41% and 31% on the night, respectfully.
Adams-Woods played 35 minutes, the most for him this season.
Having the crowd behind him helped encourage him in spearheading the victory.
“I felt like the thing is that they were with us the whole game even when we were down,” said Adams-Woods. “No matter what I heard a cheer. They were in the hotel before the game telling us to win the game, and we’re going to be there cheering for you guys. So thanks to them for just being with us out there.”
The Bonnies play in the Legends Classic Championship tomorrow against Auburn at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN2.
“You got to defend, you got to rebound, you got to take care of the basketball, you got to make your foul shots,” said Schmidt. “If you can win three of those four areas, you have a legitimate chance [of winning].”
poladiwj20@bonaventure.edu
