Bona returns to Rochester ? this time versus A-10 foe
Midway through the first half against Richmond, Dion Wright made what might have been the play of the game had his team come out on top.
The St. Bonaventure forward was chasing down a loose ball along the sideline near halfcourt. Displaying zero regard for his well-being, he was able to save a would-be turnover before sailing over the media table, the ball going to a streaking Andell Cumberbatch, who finished with a dunk at the other end.
Wright played with a relentless push all game. And though the save, and his 35-minute effort, went for naught, they embodied his post-game message following the Bonnies? second-straight blowout loss.
?WE?VE JUST gotta keep playing,? he said. ?We can?t hold our heads down. There?s a lot of basketball left. Keep playing, keep working.?
Desperate to put the last two games behind it, that?s the mindset Bona will take into tonight?s game, billed as the Fibertech Conference Classic, against George Mason (7 o?clock, WPIG-FM, WHDL-AM) inside Blue Cross Arena.
The Bonnies (8-6, 1-2) were beaten badly by both Dayton and Richmond in the last eight days, falling by an average of 18 points. They?ve now lost four of their last five overall, looking less and less like the team that opened the season 6-1.
What do they have to do to get things turned back around?
?WE?VE GOTTA shoot the ball better,? said coach Mark Schmidt, whose team will host the Patriots in the first-ever Atlantic 10 game inside the former War Memorial. ?The last two games, we?ve shot (poorly) from the 3-point line; against Richmond, we were 0-for-10.
?I think a lot of times, our offense affects our defense. In the second half (against Richmond), we didn?t shoot the ball well and I thought that started to create some opportunities for them and affect our effort a little bit.?
They also have to get better defensively, the eighth-year coach acknowledged. The Bonnies held each of their first nine opponents to below 41 percent from the field in jumping out to a 7-2 start. They?ve allowed four of the last five, however, to shoot better than 47 percent, including three above 54 percent.
?WE?VE GOTTA defend,? Schmidt said. ?When we play well, I say it all the time, the trifecta ? defend, rebound and take care of the basketball. When we?re doing all three of those things, we?re good.?
Tonight, they?ll try to do those things against a George Mason team that comes in with a 6-9 mark and an identical 1-2 record in league play.
The Patriots, who opened the year 2-6, have hovered near the bottom of the league this season in the Pomeroy rankings; they?re currently No. 11 (162), while Bona ranks ninth (130). They?re 4-3 in their last seven games, however, playing both UMass (66-62) and Richmond (75-65) tough in losses while beating La Salle in their A-10 opener.
GEORGE MASON has size, highlighted by 6-foot-11 Jamaican center Shevon Thompson, who?s averaging 13 points and 11 rebounds. The key matchup in this one will likely be between Thompson and St. Bonaventure center Youssou Ndoye; both are averaging a double-double and rank first and second in the league in rebounding, respectively.
The Patriots, led by St. John Fisher graduate Paul Hewitt, who took Georgia Tech to the Final Four in 2004, also have a group of capable guards in Marquise Moore (10 points) and Patrick Holloway (12 points) and forward Jalen Jenkins (8 points), an A-10 All-Rookie Team selection a year ago.
They?re a great rebounding team ? though they struggle to take care of the ball ? which seems to have gotten better in the same time Bona has endured its slide.
?THEY?VE GOT Thompson inside who?s third in the nation in offensive rebounding,? Schmidt pointed out. ?They have really good guards that shoot it well from the perimeter (though at the moment, GMU ranks last in the league in 3-pointers made per game at four).
?They have good size inside, they have really quick guards, they defend, they change defenses to keep you off-balance. They?ve played three teams tough (in conference play). so we know we have our work cut out.?
FOLLOWING six-straight defeats that began in 2002, the Bonnies finally got back into the win column at Blue Cross their last time there, defeating Niagara, 80-75. It owns a 7-11 mark in the building all-time.
For Bona, it made sense to play a league contest there this season, given it had an extra home game with an expanded conference schedule and that the students are still on winter break.
?It?s hard to take a game out of the Reilly Center,? Schmidt admitted. ?It?s such a good homecourt advantage, especially when the students are here. We just thought this year it would be a little bit different ?
?The Rochester alums are a big part of Bonaventure. We?ve always played up here. And we just thought that instead of bringing a non-conference game here, which is more difficult to get, we?d bring a league game. Hopefully we have a good crowd and we play well.?
Midway through the first half against Richmond, Dion Wright made what might have been the play of the game had his team come out on top.
The St. Bonaventure forward was chasing down a loose ball along the sideline near halfcourt. Displaying zero regard for his well-being, he was able to save a would-be turnover before sailing over the media table, the ball going to a streaking Andell Cumberbatch, who finished with a dunk at the other end.
Wright played with a relentless push all game. And though the save, and his 35-minute effort, went for naught, they embodied his post-game message following the Bonnies? second-straight blowout loss.
?WE?VE JUST gotta keep playing,? he said. ?We can?t hold our heads down. There?s a lot of basketball left. Keep playing, keep working.?
Desperate to put the last two games behind it, that?s the mindset Bona will take into tonight?s game, billed as the Fibertech Conference Classic, against George Mason (7 o?clock, WPIG-FM, WHDL-AM) inside Blue Cross Arena.
The Bonnies (8-6, 1-2) were beaten badly by both Dayton and Richmond in the last eight days, falling by an average of 18 points. They?ve now lost four of their last five overall, looking less and less like the team that opened the season 6-1.
What do they have to do to get things turned back around?
?WE?VE GOTTA shoot the ball better,? said coach Mark Schmidt, whose team will host the Patriots in the first-ever Atlantic 10 game inside the former War Memorial. ?The last two games, we?ve shot (poorly) from the 3-point line; against Richmond, we were 0-for-10.
?I think a lot of times, our offense affects our defense. In the second half (against Richmond), we didn?t shoot the ball well and I thought that started to create some opportunities for them and affect our effort a little bit.?
They also have to get better defensively, the eighth-year coach acknowledged. The Bonnies held each of their first nine opponents to below 41 percent from the field in jumping out to a 7-2 start. They?ve allowed four of the last five, however, to shoot better than 47 percent, including three above 54 percent.
?WE?VE GOTTA defend,? Schmidt said. ?When we play well, I say it all the time, the trifecta ? defend, rebound and take care of the basketball. When we?re doing all three of those things, we?re good.?
Tonight, they?ll try to do those things against a George Mason team that comes in with a 6-9 mark and an identical 1-2 record in league play.
The Patriots, who opened the year 2-6, have hovered near the bottom of the league this season in the Pomeroy rankings; they?re currently No. 11 (162), while Bona ranks ninth (130). They?re 4-3 in their last seven games, however, playing both UMass (66-62) and Richmond (75-65) tough in losses while beating La Salle in their A-10 opener.
GEORGE MASON has size, highlighted by 6-foot-11 Jamaican center Shevon Thompson, who?s averaging 13 points and 11 rebounds. The key matchup in this one will likely be between Thompson and St. Bonaventure center Youssou Ndoye; both are averaging a double-double and rank first and second in the league in rebounding, respectively.
The Patriots, led by St. John Fisher graduate Paul Hewitt, who took Georgia Tech to the Final Four in 2004, also have a group of capable guards in Marquise Moore (10 points) and Patrick Holloway (12 points) and forward Jalen Jenkins (8 points), an A-10 All-Rookie Team selection a year ago.
They?re a great rebounding team ? though they struggle to take care of the ball ? which seems to have gotten better in the same time Bona has endured its slide.
?THEY?VE GOT Thompson inside who?s third in the nation in offensive rebounding,? Schmidt pointed out. ?They have really good guards that shoot it well from the perimeter (though at the moment, GMU ranks last in the league in 3-pointers made per game at four).
?They have good size inside, they have really quick guards, they defend, they change defenses to keep you off-balance. They?ve played three teams tough (in conference play). so we know we have our work cut out.?
FOLLOWING six-straight defeats that began in 2002, the Bonnies finally got back into the win column at Blue Cross their last time there, defeating Niagara, 80-75. It owns a 7-11 mark in the building all-time.
For Bona, it made sense to play a league contest there this season, given it had an extra home game with an expanded conference schedule and that the students are still on winter break.
?It?s hard to take a game out of the Reilly Center,? Schmidt admitted. ?It?s such a good homecourt advantage, especially when the students are here. We just thought this year it would be a little bit different ?
?The Rochester alums are a big part of Bonaventure. We?ve always played up here. And we just thought that instead of bringing a non-conference game here, which is more difficult to get, we?d bring a league game. Hopefully we have a good crowd and we play well.?
