Quick Hitters: Dartmouth

By Chuckie Maggio, @chuckiemaggio

The St. Bonaventure Bonnies won their season-opener over the Dartmouth Big Green by a score of 77-57. Here are some quick hitters from the game:

Pregame surprise: Fans and media members got some major news about an hour before the game, and it wasn’t pleasant for the Bonnies. A Bonaventure press release announced that Youssou Ndoye and Denzel Gregg were facing disciplinary action for rules violations. Ndoye was suspended for tonight’s game for playing in an impermissible summer league game, while Gregg was suspended six games for a violation of team rules. The team did not disclose any further information on Gregg’s suspension, which will keep the forward out until December 6, when the Bonnies face Ohio.

Posley carries first-half offense: Marcus Posley followed up an excellent exhibition performance with a stellar opener. His 12 first-half points propelled a Bonnies offense that struggled mightily in the first 20 minutes. Posley only played nine minutes in the second half, but he added four points to bring his game total to 16, tied for the scoring lead.

“Adams family” puts on second half show: The Bonnies’ first-half struggles were quickly erased in the second half, a half that saw them outscore the Big Green 49-30. A large factor in that turnaround was the display the Adams duo put on. Jaylen Adams and Jalen Adams (no relation) can be easy for media members to confuse, but there was no debate over their value to Bona’s win tonight. Jaylen, who the team calls “Jay,” had 16 points, all in the second half, to be co-leader in scoring. Jalen Adams, who was playing his first official basketball game in two years, had 11 points, all in the second half, to give the Bonnies a huge boost. Jaylen went 4-5 from three-point land, while Jalen went 2-2.

Defense locks up Maldunas and Boehm: Dartmouth big man Gabas Maldunas and forward Connor Boehm were held to just 15 combined points on Saturday night. The duo usually combines for 20 points per game. The defense against two of the Big Green’s “Big Three” was a microcosm of the excellent defense the Bonnies displayed. They achieved coach Mark Schmidt’s goals of allowing less than 65 points and less than a 40% field goal percentage.