BY JONNY WALKER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
LEWISTON, NY — The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team routed Little Three rival Niagara 94-60 Wednesday in the Gallagher Center, shooting over 60% from the field and from deep en route to its fourth-straight victory.
The Purple Eagles (1-6, 0-2 MAAC) opened the game on an 8-2 run. But over the first half’s final 15:19, the Bonnies (6-2, 0-0 A-10) posted a 41-10 run — propelled by 22 points in the paint — to go into the break up 25.
“I thought we had an advantage inside with Chad [Venning] and Noel [Brown],” said Bona head coach Mark Schmidt after the game. “And I thought we really took advantage of it. They [Venning and Brown] did a really good job of scoring inside, kicking the ball out.”
Foul trouble limited Niagara’s starting big man, 7-foot forward Harlan Obioha, to six first-half minutes — and just 16 overall. No other Purple Eagle measured over 6-foot-8, and Bona capitalized on its newfound size advantage. Bonnies big men Venning and Brown combined for 29 points on 12-18 shooting, continually backing down smaller defenders and fighting off double teams.
“From the jump, coach had let us know that we feel like we have an advantage inside,” said Brown. “When you keep going inside … it makes everything easier because once we have the help inside, it’s easy to kick out threes — and just the whole team gets involved.”
Led by freshman point guard Ahmad Henderson II’s 13 points, the Purple Eagles’ offense sputtered to 39% shooting from the field and 33% from 3-point range. They had shot under 30% from both well into the second half.
“I thought they did a really good job of getting in us,” said Niagara head coach Greg Paulus. “They really were physical, aggressive, extending up outside the 3-point line.”
In Bona’s second-straight game missing guards Charles Pride and Kyrell Luc to injury, guards Mika Adams-Woods and Daryl Banks III played every minute that mattered. Banks finished with 10 points and Adams-Woods led all scorers with a career-high 25 points on 10-11 shooting and 5-5 from behind the arc.
“I feel like we’re starting to understand the mindset of we can’t get comfortable when we’re up,” said Adams-Woods. “We just got to keep our foot on the gas and keep going.”
With Wednesday’s result, the Bonnies have won each of their last three games by an average of 26.3 points. Bona returns to the Reilly Center Saturday to complete a three-game stretch against in-state rivals, hosting Siena College.
“No team and no player stays the same during the season — either you get worse or you get better,” said Schmidt. “And our goal is to get better.”
walkerjc20@bonaventure.edu
