photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
By Carson Hayek, Sports Staffer
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Selflessness carried the St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team to its first home victory of the season, an 88-64 win over Cornell Wednesday night at the Reilly Center.
The Bonnies recorded 17 assists and committed just eight turnovers. Head coach Mike MacDonald credited the team’s unselfishness.
“I thought our guys played to our strengths,” MacDonald said. “We were selfless and that’s huge for us going forward.”
Bonnies senior center Ben Bill scored a game-high 28 points and grabbed six rebounds. Through three games, Bill has shot 24-of-28 from the field. He credited his positioning and his teammates for his efficiency.
“My teammates are dishing me the ball very well,” Bill said. “If I post up low it’s a really high percentage shot. If I keep getting in position [I will have success].”
The teams took different approaches offensively, as the Bonnies made just one three on 12 attempts and scored 60 points from the paint, while Cornell shot 10-for-38 from deep, including making five threes in the games first 10 minutes.
“Early on they were making threes,” MacDonald said. “I thought we settled down defensively. They get a lot of their threes off their big men and shooting behind them. Once we kept them out of penetration we were able to get out to shooters.”
MacDonald said he was pleased with how his team stayed focused after beating Canisius last Saturday.
“We reacted well even from a win,” MacDonald said. “We didn’t know how we’d react after a win. The players are very focused in practice and they understand what has to be done. We are developing our identity.”
St. Bonaventure improves to 2-1, while Cornell falls to 2-2.
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