photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
By Carson Hayek, Sports Staffer
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — The St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team, led by senior guard Zach Philipkoski’s 28 points, fell to Youngstown State University 79-71 in their season opener Monday night at the Reilly Center.
The lead changed eight times, and the teams were tied 12 times. With 3:57 remaining, the Bonnies held their final lead of the night at 66-63.
Youngstown State closed the game on a 16-5 run, shooting 5 of 6 from the field. Linus Holmstrom delivered the final blow, hitting a three with 25 seconds left as the shot clock hit zero.
Holmstrom finished with 26 points and six 3-pointers, matching the Bonnies total.
Bonnies head coach Mike MacDonald took accountability for allowing Holmstrom’s late 3-pointer.
“It was on me as we rolled the dice going to zone at the end,” MacDonald said. “I thought zone kept them off balance, but Holmstrom made a deep, deep three.”
The Penguins outrebounded the Bonnies by nine rebounds, and the Bonnies only made 42.1% of their free throws.
MacDonald blamed rebounding and free throws as reasons why Bonaventure lost.
“We didn’t affect winning with our free throw shooting and defensive rebounding,” MacDonald said. “We left too many points on the free throw line. Free throw shooting is contagious. If you get off to a bad start, then all of a sudden people start missing.”
Even with the loss, MacDonald was satisfied with his team’s competition level.
“I thought the competition was great,” MacDonald said. “I didn’t think the execution was great, but the competition was really good.”
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