Photo: ANDREW HALE
BY: ANDREW HALE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
WASHINGTON – The No. 8 St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team — which led for only two minutes and four seconds — took down No. 9 Duquesne Thursday, defeating the Dukes 64-59 in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Championship.
As they did in the first matchup against Bonaventure (22-10, 9-9 A-10), Duquesne (13-18, 8-10 A-10) got on top of the Bonnies quick, making four of their first five shots to go up 7-2 to begin the game.
However, a 10-0 run topped off by a 3-pointer from redshirt freshman guard Noah Bolanga gave the Bonnies a 14-12 lead.
The Dukes responded with eight straight to retake the lead and go up 20-14. This would be a sign of things to come as the Bonnies proceeded to go on a 1-11 shooting drought, allowing the Dukes to take a 34-25 lead going into the half.
The Dukes outshot the Bonnies in the first half, going 13-31 from the field, including 4-15 from three while holding the Bonnies to 10-30 and 2-6 from three.
“I was happy that we were only down by nine, as I told them we were only down by three buckets,” Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said. “We didn’t play well at all. We weren’t aggressive, we weren’t playing the ball screens right, but just being down nine, I thought that was a moral victory for us.”
Dukes redshirt junior guard Maximus Edwards came out firing in the second half, scoring eight consecutive Duquesne points and giving his team a 48-35 lead with 12 minutes left.
Edwards scored 12 of his 18 total points in the second half.
“That’s just my teammates and coach Dru [Joyce III] and the whole staff believing in me,” Edwards said. “I know the last four minutes, we really didn’t get nothing going offensively, but I mean it was good, I was scoring, but it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough.”
Bonaventure began its second half comeback following a 3-pointer from junior guard Lajae Jones to cut the lead to 10 going into the under-12 media timeout.
After a midrange jumper from graduate center Noel Brown to cut the Dukes lead to nine, senior guard Melvin Council Jr. recorded a steal on four consecutive possessions, igniting the Bonaventure faithful in attendance.
“I appreciate [the fans],” Council Jr. said. “Like I said before in all my interviews, when I came on my visit, coach [Schmidt] told me that the fans travel, and I didn’t believe him, until I came to the school. I just want to thank you guys for coming out and supporting us.”
Once down 13 in the second half, the Bonnies were within striking distance down 58-53 and the under-four-minute media timeout.
Jones, who hit three 3-pointers earlier in the game, made his game-high fourth three to cut the lead to two following the timeout. Jones played all 40 minutes and finished the game tied for a game-high 18 points, shooting 4-8 from three, eight rebounds and three steals.
Down two with two minutes left, Council Jr. began to take over. The senior guard scored the Bonnies’ final eight points, including two free throws which iced the game.
“Jonah Hinton grabbed me and said, ‘Bring us home. You’re a dog. Bring us home,’” Council Jr. said. “And I was just thinking about that at the free throw line, and I nailed the two free throws, and I told Jonah, I got him.”
Council Jr. played all 40 minutes and finished the game with 18 points, two rebounds and a game-high four steals.
Bonaventure ended the game on a 13-1 run over the final four minutes and forced 13 Duquesne turnovers in the second half.
“It just showed our guys never gave up,” Schmidt said. “They dealt with the adversity, and they kept on fighting. It wasn’t a pretty game. It was really competitive, physical, but our guys made the plays at the end.”
The Bonnies advance to the quarterfinals where they’ll face No. 1 VCU Friday. Tipoff is set for 11:30 a.m. on USA Network.
“[VCU is] good,” Schmidt said. “We got lucky to beat them at home in the first Atlantic 10 game. I thought we played pretty well in the first half against them down there, and then they went on a run. They got the [A-10] player of the year and when they shoot the ball well from three, they’re almost unbeatable. So, we got a big challenge.”
halea22@bonaventure.edu
