By Chuckie Maggio @chuckiemaggio
The St. Bonaventure Bonnies defeated the St. Joseph’s Hawks 60-49 in their second round matchup on Thursday night at the Barclays Center. Here are some quick hitters from the game:
- Rough first half: The Bonnies struggled mightily on offense in the first half, going 9-of-27 from the field in the opening 20 minutes. Despite the sluggish offensive start, they only trailed St. Joseph’s by five (28-23) going into the locker room, thanks largely in part to St. Joe’s going just 9-of-26 in the first session.
- Rebounding resurgence: The Bonnies outscored the Hawks 37-21 in the second half, with rebounding being a key factor. After leading the battle of the boards just 21-20 going into the break, Bona outrebounded the Hawks 27-13 in the second half. Denzel Gregg led all rebounders with 15 boards, a career high.
- Ndoye and Wright lead Bona scorers: Youssou Ndoye scored 18 points, 10 in the second half, to lead the team’s scoring. Despite getting a technical foul after a scuffle in the early going (his second year in a row picking up a “T” in the team’s first tournament game), Ndoye was able to compose himself. The 7-foot senior made all four of his free throws in the second half to ice the game. Wright scored 15 points after 7-of-11 shooting from the floor, continuing to be arguably SBU’s most consistent offensive threat.
- Free throws are the clincher: The afore-mentioned foul shots were vital for Bona in the second half. After going 4-of-8 from the stripe in the first half, they went 12-of-13 in the second.
- Next up: The Bonnies face the Dayton Flyers in the quarterfinal game Friday at 6:30. Dayton beat Bonaventure by a combined 31 points in the two regular season contests.
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