By Anthony Sambrotto @asambrotto95
The St. Bonaventure Bonnies defeated the Binghamton Bearcats 63-53 on Friday night. Here are some Quick Hitters from the game:
The Stars Don’t Shine: A major reason why the game remained so tight until the end was because Binghamton shut down Bonaventure’s top player- Marcus Posley. The Bearcats had Justin McFadden on Posley for most of the night and limited one of the top players in the A-10 to only five points on two-of-10 shooting. Also in Bona’s backcourt, Jaylen Adams went 2-of-7 from the field for 10 points and dished out only two helpers.
Free Throws in the Clutch: Although it looked like free throws might once again be the Bonnies’ Achilles Heel after shooting five-of-10 from the line in the first half, they came up clutch when it mattered, making 14 of 15 to close the game. Leading the way at the line was Dion Wright, who finished 6-of-8, and Jaylen Adams, who made five of seven. Binghamton also had a good day of free throw shooting, going 14-of-17.
Capitalizing off the Opposition: The Bonnies were strong defensively all game, forcing 19 Binghamton turnovers and scoring 25 points off of those turnovers. They also held their own on the glass, nabbing 43 rebounds and turning those into 12 second chance points. Wright snatched nine rebounds and Denzel Gregg helped himself to 11 boards and a career high in points (15) and blocks(4).
“Star of the Game”: That is how coach Mark Schmidt referred to Nelson Kaputo. The freshman point guard from Toronto provided a crucial spark off the bench, logging 23 minutes and seven points. Even more important down the stretch was his strong play on some of the Bearcats’ top shooters along with his five helpers.
Welcome to the Big Show: In addition to Kaputo, freshman Derrick Woods and LaDarien Griffin also made their debut for Bonaventure. Woods grabbed five rebounds and made three of four from the free throw line on his way to five points. Woods, however, got into foul trouble with four on the night and only played 13 minutes. Griffin played one minute and didn’t make a mark on the scoresheet, except for a foul.
Up Next: There is nothing in the way now between the showdown between St. Bonaventure and Syracuse. The Bonnies travel to the 315 to face the Orange Tuesday night. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. Syracuse won its first game of the season, 57-47 over Lehigh on Friday night.
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