PHOTO COURTESY OF GOBONNIES
BY JONNY WALKER, ADVISORY EDITOR
He did it again.
Last season, Daryl Banks III dropped a career-high 36 points on Saint Joseph’s, giving the Hawks an extra-long flight back to Philadelphia. On national television Friday night, Banks eclipsed the 25-point mark for the first time this season, again sending the Hawks home with a loss, this time 91-72.
Entering Friday, Banks had been averaging 7.4 points per game — less than half the scoring average that earned him all-conference honors a season ago. Banks’ shooting struggles all but forced St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt to pull the fifth-year senior from Bona’s starting lineup last week. Against Saint Joseph’s, Banks hit nine of 13 field goals and seven of 11 3-pointers en route to a season-high 29 points.
“Of course it feels good to see the ball go in like that, to get hot like that” Banks said after the game.
Banks combined with fellow fifth-year guard and team captain Moses Flowers to account for 52 of Bona’s 91 points. Flowers’ 23 came on nearly 60% shooting with three 3-pointers.
Redshirt junior forward Chad Venning was the third Bonnie to eclipse 20 points, adding two blocks and five rebounds in 32 minutes. In a game where each team posted just 36 points in the paint, 20 of Venning’s 21 came from the interior.
“I feel like there’s no pressure when anybody on the court can get a bucket,” said Flowers. “Everybody can score. So, it doesn’t matter who takes the shot, really.”
The Hawks kept pace with Bonventure going into halftime, remaining within four at the break. An Xzavier Brown driving layup gave Saint Joseph’s a 54-53 lead with 15:41 remaining. But a 17-4 Bona run going into the under-8 media timeout put the Hawks down by double digits, a deficit they never erased.
“We were able to get by people and create some separation,” said Schmidt. “And then drive and kick and get open shots — and it’s good that the ball went in.”
The Hawks, third in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, had five scorers in double digits. Graduate guard Cameron Brown had team-highs 16 points and four made 3-pointers. Junior guard Erik Reynolds II, who entered Friday’s game with the A-10’s fourth-highest scoring average (18.2), managed 12 points in 33 minutes. Reynolds’ last made field goal, a step-back two from the right elbow, came with nearly 15 minutes remaining in the second half.
“In the second half, we defended better,” said Schmidt. “Held them to 31 points. Did a good job on Reynolds.”
After the game, Schmidt commended forward Barry Evans, saying the 6-foot-8 sophomore’s contributions extended beyond the scoring column and aren’t always reflected on the stat sheet. Evans finished with team-highs seven rebounds and six assists to pair with his four points.
“I thought the MVP of the game was Barry Evans,” said Schmidt. “If you know anything about basketball, it’s not about scoring. It’s about defending, rebounding, getting deflections … He was the guy.”
With the loss, the Hawks (13-7, 3-4) snapped their three-game winning streak and dropped below .500 in conference play. Friday’s win marked the beginning of a favorable stretch for the Bonnies (12-7, 3-4), who will get to play three of their next four at home.
“You need to win all your home games — or a majority of them,” said Schmidt. “You got to protect your home court. And then, I say it all the time, then try to steal a couple on the road.”
Bonaventure’s season continues Tuesday as the Bonnies host a rematch against Virginia Commonwealth. The Bonnies defeated VCU 89-78 in Richmond Jan. 3 to open their A-10 season.
walkerjc20@bonaventure.edu
