Photo: St. Bonaventure Athletics
BY: ANDREW HALE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team won its sixth consecutive game to begin the season, defeating Bryant University 85-70 in a back-and-forth affair.
The Bulldogs (3-3, 0-0 AE) got off to a hot start, quickly going up 7-2 thanks to five early points from senior guard and Bryant’s leading scorer Rafael Pinzon.
The Bonnies (6-0, 0-0 A-10) would respond, however, as back-to-back threes from senior guard Melvin Council Jr. put the Bonnies up 23-12, forcing a Bryant timeout.
Council Jr. scored 12 points in the opening nine minutes, shooting 100% from field goal range. Council Jr. finished the half with a game-high 14 points, shooting 6-8 from the field and 2-3 from 3-point range.
“I knew Barry Evans was coming back, so I wanted to attack first before Bryant and Barry started to hit and stuff,” Council Jr. “So that really was my mindset coming in the game.”
The Bonnies held their biggest lead of the half at 43-25, following back-to-back layups from graduate center Noel Brown.
Brown finished the first half perfect from the field, shooting 5-5 with 12 points.
“This past week we were preparing for Bryant and one of the main emphasis was getting inside,” Brown said.
The Bonaventure lead wouldn’t last long as former Bonnie and Bryant junior forward Barry Evans kept the Bulldogs within striking distance.
Bryant went on a 15-3 run to end the half, cutting the lead to 46-40.
“Our offense isn’t going to be perfect all the time, but our defense has to be there,” Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said. “And when you’re not scoring, you better defend. And we stopped defending for five to six minutes.”
Evans finished the half with a team-high 12 points, shooting 5-9 from the field and 2-3 from three.
Evans even picked up a technical foul after he exchanged words with the Bonaventure bench midway through the first half.
“[The technical] was fuel to the fire,” Council Jr. said. “We expected that to happen.”
The Bonnies had their best offensive half of the season, scoring 46 points and shooting 59% from the field and 63% from 3-point range.
Bonaventure held Bryant to 49% from field goal range and 50% from the three.
“[The team has] to be committed, and I thought we were at the beginning of the game,” Schmidt said. “I thought we took a little bit of a step back in the middle of that first half, but I thought we gathered ourselves.”
The Bonnies came out of the tunnel firing as the team went on a 12-2 run, forcing a Bryant timeout three minutes into the second half.
“Coming out in the first five minutes of the second half is critical,” Schmidt said. “I thought we took control of the game there.”
Like the first half, Bryant wouldn’t go down without a fight as a 12-2 Bulldogs run cut the Bonnies’ lead to single digits, 73-65 with seven minutes left.
Eight points would be the closest the Bulldogs would get as a 3-pointer from junior guard Lajae Jones with three minutes left put the Bonnies up 80-66, ultimately icing Bryant.
Four Bulldogs finished in double figures. Fifth-year guard Earl Timberlake led the way for Bryant, scoring a team-high 17 points while grabbing seven rebounds.
Bonaventure held Bryant to 33% from the field and 22% from three in the second half, however, the Bulldogs outrebounded the Bonnies 34-29.
The Bonnies continued their offensive efficiency in the second half, shooting 53% from field goal range and 50% from three.
“Our guys are working at it,” Schmidt said. “We got decent shooters.”
Four of five Bonaventure starters finished with double-digit scoring.
“I think that’s the strength of our team,” Schmidt said. “We don’t have that one guy that’s going to get us 25 every night. We’re going to do it collectively, and it’s good to see that we have different guys stepping up on different evenings.”
Brown was a force in the paint, leading the Bonnies with a career-high 22 points, shooting 82% and grabbing a team-high seven rebounds.
“I chop it up to my team,” Brown said. “They get me in the right spots. They help me. They make the job so much easier. It just takes a consistent, aggressive mindset. But it’s bigger than me. It’s my teammates. They get me in the right spots and make the buckets easy.”
The Bonnies are 6-0 for the first time since the 1973-74 season. The team travels to Orlando, Florida, to play in the ESPN NIT Season Tip-Off on Thursday and Friday. Tipoff for Game 1 against Utah State is set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The game will air live on ESPN 2.
halea22@bonaventure.edu
