By Carson Hayek, Staff Writer
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y — The St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team used a 50-point second half to overcome an 11-point deficit and remain undefeated at home, defeating Le Moyne College 92-81 on Saturday afternoon in the Reilly Center.
Bonnies senior forward Frank Mitchell led the team with 21 points, while senior guard Cayden Charles grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Dolphins graduate forward Shilo Jackson led all scorers with 25 points and redshirt sophomore guard Deng Garang had eight rebounds.
Following St. Bonaventure’s victory, Bonnies men’s basketball head coach Mark Schmidt said he liked his team’s response in the second half.
“I thought we came out a little soft [in the first half],” Schmidt said. “I thought the second half, we responded. We didn’t play well in the first half when they came at us, and we came out in the second half, and we responded… We played more aggressively, and we played better.”
Schmidt also emphasized that his team needs to do a better job playing a full game.
“We have to play a full 40 minutes,” Schmidt said. “Against the teams we are about to play, starting with [Virginia Commonwealth University], if you play a half, it will not be enough. We have got to get better…”
Each team traded baskets to start the game. The Bonnies led 6-5.
Bonaventure scored four 3-pointers and outscored Le Moyne 16-7, earning a 22-12 lead with 12:40 left in the first half.
The Dolphins went on a 16-5 spurt and claimed a 28-27 lead with less than 7:30 left in the first half.
Le Moyne led 47-42 at halftime.
The Dolphins scored eight of the first 10 points to open the second half and extended their lead to 55-44.
Bonnies senior forward Daniel Egbuniwe hit three 3-pointers during a 16-2 St. Bonaventure run over the next four minutes to reclaim a 60-57 lead with 14:54 remaining in regulation.
Le Moyne tied the Bonnies three separate times over the next eight minutes but failed to take the lead.
The Bonnies used a 12-0 run without a missed shot from 6:13 to the 2:41 mark of the second half to extend their lead to 84-72.
Bonaventure junior guard Darryl “Buddy” Simmons II made six free throws in the final 80 seconds to solidify the Bonnies’ victory.
Bonaventure improves to 11-2, while Le Moyne drops to 5-7.
The Bonnies will visit Virginia Commonwealth University for their first Atlantic 10 Conference game of the year on Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. The Dolphins stay on the road and visit Boston College on Dec. 28 at 2 p.m. Bonaventure’s game will air on ESPN+. Radio coverage can be heard on the Bonnies Online Network, 100.1 FM Bradford & Olean and 1340 AM Jamestown.
Leave a Reply