photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
By Carson Hayek, Sports Staffer
BUFFALO, N.Y. — St. Bonaventure fell to Penn State 68-65 Saturday evening at the KeyBank Center in the Greenlight Preseason Showcase, marking Mike MacDonald’s first game as the Bonnies’ head coach.
The MacDonald era started fast, with the Bonnies shooting 55.2% in the first half and leading 36-25 at halftime.
In the second half, the Bonnies shot just 26.1%, while Penn State shot 59.1% from the field.
St. Bonaventure led for 35 minutes before Penn State sophomore forward Ivan Juric made a jumper with 1:11 remaining to give the Nittany Lions a 66-65 lead.
St. Bonaventure made just 2-of-6 shots in the final 3:35, missing two free throws before Grahovac’s 3-point attempt rimmed out.
Despite the late misses, MacDonald said he liked the shot selections.
“Even at the end of the game we had a wide-open three, two missed free throws from a really good free throw shooter, and then a wide-open three from another good shooter,” MacDonald said. “We missed those shots.”
St. Bonaventure sophomore forward Mason Blackwood led the team with 15 points, shooting 5-for-12 from the field. The former Nittany Lion also impressed MacDonald with his play on both ends of the court.
“Mason’s work ethic is outstanding, and he is getting better,” MacDonald said. “He feels confident being here, and he sees that his role is expanded here and we rely on him more. Offensively, he was great, but he was good defensively, which I don’t always say about him.”
MacDonald said facing a Big Ten opponent in a close game provided a valuable test for his team.
“I don’t believe you can recreate situations like this at practice,” MacDonald said. “In practice it’s never quite the same intensity. I don’t think you can get looks like this in practice, and I think it’s great to go up a BIG Ten team.”
Even though the loss doesn’t count towards the Bonnies record, the players still felt frustration following the game.
“They are ticked off,” MacDonald said. “They wanted to win. Our guys want to win, and they are competitive. They saw it right there, and we are not there yet, but we will be.”
The Bonnies return to the Reilly Center to host Point Park University in another exhibition game on Saturday at 4 p.m.
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