Photo: St. Bonaventure Athletics
BY: ANDREW HALE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team travels to Buffalo, New York, today, looking to snap its two-game losing streak against Little Three rival Canisius.
After defeating California State University, Northridge 70-56 in their season opener, the Bonnies make the 76-mile trip to face a Golden Griffins team who fell to No. 10 Arizona 93-64 on Monday.
“[Canisius] played Arizona well,” Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said. “[Canisius] made 10 threes, and they’re a good team. They’ve got good guards, and they’ve got two big guys who are skilled, which causes problems.”
Senior guard Chance Moore finished with a game-high 18 points along with nine rebounds, three assists and two steals in his Bonnies debut against CSUN.
“Chance is really athletic, long, really gets the basket, and when he’s engaged in going to the offensive glass, that’s when you know he’s going to have a good game,” Schmidt said. “[Moore] just has to play consistently hard, and when he does that, he can be a really good player for us.”
Against CSUN, the Bonnies shot 31% from the field, 21% from three, turned the ball over 18 times, outrebounded the Matadors by five and had five points off of offensive rebounds.
Schmidt said the lack of efficiency against CSUN is a cause for concern against the Golden Griffins Saturday.
“All these areas we’ve got to get better at,” Schmidt said. “If we are what we are as a team in January or February, we’re in big trouble. We’ve got to get better and better. Just like last year, we’ve got to be playing our best basketball at the end of the year. That’s the goal.”
Junior guard Paul McMillan IV scored 20 points, shooting 53% from the field in his Canisius debut against Arizona.
Sophomore forward Dylan Godfrey and senior guard Tana Kopa both finished in double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
“For older alums, the Canisius, Niagara games are everything,” Schmidt said. “Our guys know the importance [of this game]. It’s a big game for Canisius and it’s a big game for Bonaventure.”
Tipoff from Koessler Athletic Center is set for 4 p.m. and will stream live on ESPN+.
halea22@bonaventure.edu
