BY: WILL NUNN, SPORTS ASSIGNMENT EDITOR
Photo Courtesy of gobonnies.com
After a come-from-behind victory over Duquesne Thursday, the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team advances to play the top-seeded VCU Rams in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals Friday.
The Bonnies (22-10, 9-9 A-10) defeated Duquesne (13-18, 8-10 A-10) 64-59 in the second round of the A-10 Championships to advance to the quarterfinals after trailing by as many as 13 in the second half.
The comeback was fueled by senior guard Melvin Council Jr. and junior guard Lajae Jones. Council Jr. scored 18 points and added four second half steals. Jones notched 18 points and eight rebounds and hit four threes.
The Bonnies split their two matchups with the Rams (25-6, 15-3 A-10) in the regular season, with each team winning on their home floor.
The Bonnies defeated VCU 77-75 on Dec. 31 in St. Bonaventure thanks to a last-second layup by Council Jr, who scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Graduate forward Noel Brown added 20 points and four rebounds in the win.
On Jan. 24, Bonaventure traveled to Richmond, where they lost to VCU 75-61. Leading the way for the Rams was senior guard Joe Bamisile, who scored 18 points and added six assists and six rebounds. Senior guard Chance Moore scored 21 points and tallied eight rebounds to lead the Bonnies.
“They’re really good,” said Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt. “We got lucky to beat them at home in the first game.”
The Rams are coming off a 79-76 loss to Dayton in their regular-season finale, which ended their season-long nine-game winning streak.
VCU is led by senior guard Max Shulga, who averaged 15.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game in the regular season. The Kyiv, Ukraine native was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year for his performance in the regular season.
Bamisile was also honored as a member of the Atlantic 10 Second Team All-Conference, averaging 15.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Senior guard Zeb Jackson was named Atlantic 10 Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 10.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
“They got the player of the year and good athletes,” said Schmidt. “When they shoot the ball well they’re almost unbeatable, so we got a big challenge.”
Despite both Council Jr. and Jones playing all 40 minutes Thursday, Schmidt said he is not worried about fatigue as the Bonnies enter their second game in as many days.
“When they’re 18 to 22-year-olds, they never get tired,” said Schmidt. “When you’re dead, that’s when you can sleep.”
The Bonnies and the Rams will tip-off at 11:30 a.m. from Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. with a trip to the Atlantic 10 semifinals on the line. The game will be broadcast live on USA Network, with a radio broadcast available on the Bonnies Online Network.
