Photo Courtesy of gobonnies.com
BY: WILL NUNN, SPORTS ASSIGNMENT EDITOR
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team fell at the hands of the top-seeded VCU Rams 76-59 Friday in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic-10 Championships.
The Bonnies (22-11, 9-9 A-10), playing their second game in as many days after a second round win over Duquesne Thursday, were led by senior guard Melvin Council Jr, who played all 40 minutes for the second consecutive day. Council Jr. scored a game-high 19 points and tallied nine rebounds. Senior guard Chance Moore matched Council’s 19 points, adding eight rebounds.
“You watch Melvin [Council Jr.],” said Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt. “He had as much energy at the end of the game as he had at the beginning of the game.”
VCU (26-6, 15-3 A-10) was led by senior forward Jack Clark, who scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds. A-10 Sixth Man of the Year Zeb Jackson scored 14 points, as the senior guard provided a spark for the Rams in 21 minutes off the bench.
Freshman guard Brandon Jennings tallied 12 points, five rebounds, and three blocks in 15 minutes off the bench for VCU. Jennings went 3-3 from beyond the arc, including a three that ended an 8-0 Bonnies run, which cut the lead to five early in the second half.
“[Jennings] was tremendous today,” said VCU head coach Ryan Odom. “I never worry about, when I sub him in, if he’s going to bring the energy. He just helps us win.”
Max Shulga, the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, had just two points in the game for the Rams, which came with 7:50 remaining in the second half. The senior guard shot just 1-9 from the field, including 0-7 from three.
Shulga was able to fill the stat sheet in other ways. The Kyiv, Ukraine native recorded six rebounds and a career-high 11 assists in his 36 minutes.
“You look at Shulga,” said Schmidt. “If somebody told me he was gonna have two points I would think we got a shot. He just controls the whole game.”
The Bonnies struggled from beyond the arc, shooting just 4-19 from deep. Sophomore guard Jonah Hinton and junior guard Lajae Jones each went 0-5 from the perimeter.
Points off turnovers were another struggle for the Brown and White. Bonaventure scored just six points off of seven VCU turnovers. The Rams were able to capitalize on the Bonnies’ mistakes, scoring 21 points off 13 SBU turnovers.
“You can’t beat a team like VCU with the athletes that they have when you get outscored 21-6 on points off turnovers,” said Schmidt.
With the A-10 season over, the Bonnies now look ahead to the postseason, where they hope to earn a bid to one of the national postseason tournaments.
“The NIT is something that we would be excited to play in, and the College Basketball Crown as well,” said Schmidt.
For now, the Bonnies will await to hear their name called for any of the postseason tournaments on Selection Sunday, as they look for their first postseason appearance since their run to the NIT semifinals in 2022.
