Photo: Joseph DeBell
BY: ANDREW HALE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team completed the season sweep over Fordham Saturday afternoon, defeating the Rams 74-72.
The Bonnies (17-6, 5-5 A-10) and Melvin Council Jr. came out firing as the senior guard scored the game’s first five points.
A three-pointer from Bonaventure redshirt sophomore Jonah Hinton gave the Bonnies a 10-3 lead to begin the game.
Fordham (10-12, 2-7 A-10) wouldn’t go away easily as the Rams proceeded to go on a 7-2 run, cutting the lead to two. The Bonnies responded with an 18-4 run of their own to go up 30-14 with eight minutes left in the opening half.
The Rams fought back, and following a 3-pointer courtesy of Fordham senior guard Jackie Johnson III, the Bonnies’ lead diminished to single digits, 33-24, with three minutes left.
The teams traded buckets for the final three minutes, but a layup from Rams sophomore forward Jahmere Tripp at the buzzer cut Bonaventure’s lead to 40-29 going into halftime.
“For the first 15 minutes, I thought we played extremely well,” said Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt. “We defended, we rebounded, we got out on the break, we pushed the ball, we got the ball inside, we were attacking, we were going downhill. Then [Fordham] went to that little 122 zone, and that stopped us a little bit in the last four or five minutes of the first half.”
After shooting 48% from three against Dayton on Tuesday, the Bonnies struggled from 3-point range in the first half, converting two of eight shots behind the arc.
However, the Bonnies relied on their big men as freshman center Xander Wedlow scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds. Graduate center Noel Brown led the team in scoring at the half with 13 points while securing five rebounds.
“[Wedlow] got offensive rebounds, got good hands,” Schmidt said. “He has a good feel around the basket, so he was a big part, especially in the first half, of what we did.”
Fordham shot 43% from the field and 4-14 from three, while getting outrebounded 18-13.
At halftime, the university celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Bonnies men’s basketball team, which secured an at-large bid in the 2000 March Madness tournament.
Bonaventure controlled the first 13 minutes of the second half, but Fordham began to fight back following a three-point shot from Johnson III, cutting the lead to 61-56 with seven minutes left.
Rams graduate guard Japhet Medor began to take over, hitting back-to-back threes and making two free throws in the span of two minutes, pulling Fordham within two.
Brown ended the Rams’ momentum, rocking the rim with a dunk and erupting the sold-out crowd inside the Reilly Center.
Fordham wouldn’t go down without a fight as the Rams forced a Bonaventure turnover, leading to a wide-open fastbreak layup, tying the game at 68 all with two minutes left.
A 3-pointer from Hinton and a Bonaventure steal on the following possession, leading to a layup from senior guard Chance Moore, put the Bonnies in the driver’s seat up 73-68 with a minute left.
However, Bonaventure turnovers, fouls and misses allowed Fordham to cut the lead to one with six seconds left.
With an opportunity to ice the game at the free throw line, junior guard Lajae Jones made one of two free throws, but Fordham couldn’t convert the game-winning half-court heave, allowing the Bonnies to escape and win their second straight game.
“We made some uncharacteristic mistakes at the end of the game, missing some foul shots, making some bad decisions,” Schmidt said. “But in the end, we won. And that’s what this business is all about.”
Johnson III led the Rams with a team-high 20 points, shooting 42% from the field. Medor played all 40 minutes, scoring 18 points and shooting 55% from field goal range. The two guards scored 38 of the Rams 72 points.
“The two guards, Johnson and Medor, are really good,” Schmidt said. “They’re small, but they’re really good.”
The Bonnies controlled the paint, outscoring Fordham 50-32 under the basket. Wedlow and Brown combined for 32 points on a combined 12-14 from field goal range.
“I’m old school,” Schmidt said. “You win the game inside out. And Noel’s done that for the most part, the whole season. But when we need a basket going inside, something good is going to happen. I was really proud of what Xander did. He’s getting better. [Going] 5-5, he gave us a lift coming off the bench.”
Bonaventure travels to Chicago on Tuesday to take on Loyola Chicago. Tipoff is set for 9:00 p.m. and will air live on CBSSN. Radio listeners can tune into the game via the Bonnies Online Network.
halea22@bonaventure.edu
