BY WILL POLADIAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
In a game where St. Bonaventure only led at the 17:08 mark of the first half, redshirt senior guard Daryl Banks III did all he could, scoring 14 points and going 6-for-6 from the free throw line in a 70-60 loss to Duquesne.
“We weren’t good enough and a lot had to do with Duquesne and we wish them luck in the championship tomorrow, but they outplayed us,” said Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt.
Meanwhile the other graduating players did not have the same fate.
Redshirt senior Moses Flowers had eight points, with six coming in the first half and his last bucket with 13:56 left in the second half, going 3-for-7 from the field and 1-for-5 from 3-point range. He also grabbed two rebounds and had a steal.
Graduate guard Charles Pride also ended the contest with eight points, making two 3-pointers late in the second half during the Bonnies comeback attempt. He also grabbed six rebounds, two being offensive boards.
One graduating player that had the worst game out of the four.
Graduate guard Mika Adams-Woods ended the contest with five points, shooting 2-for-11 from the field and 0-for-4 from 3-point range. Adams-Woods did contribute in other ways, grabbing three rebounds and dishing out five assists on the night.
“It is what it is,” said Banks III. “We came up short. [I’m] just proud of the group of guys that I played with this year.”
This is Bonaventure’s first 20-win season since 2021, where the Bonnies made the NIT and made a run to the Final Four before losing to Xavier in Madison Square Garden.
This also marks the sixth time the Bonnies have won 20 games in the Mark Schmidt era.
“We had a good year,” said Schmidt. “It was up and down. The last game never defines you. Very few teams win that last game. Our goal was to win the thing; we came up short. But 20 wins is pretty damn good.”
While this may be the end of the Atlantic 10 Championship run, there is still hope that postseason basketball is in play.
“Yeah, hopefully,” said Schmidt. “Who knows. I don’t know what they think, but we won 20 games.”
If it is the end of the season though, Banks III wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I had an amazing experience my two years here,” said Banks III. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I made a lot of connections. These guys are my family. Of course I wanted to go further, but going out with these groups of guys, I couldn’t ask for a better ending.”
poladiwj20@bonaventure.edu
