photo courtesy of gobonnies.sbu.edu
By Tom Doyle
ST BONAVENTURE, NY — The St Bonaventure men’s basketball team takes on the Duquesne Dukes in a game that will be nationally televised on Friday from SBU.
The game will be played in the Reilly Center at 7 p.m. on ESPN2. The Bonnies are coming off a road win against the Fordham Rams on Wednesday, winning the contest by 14 points. The Bonnies were led by Jaren Holmes and Jalen Adaway in that game, combining for 40 of Bona’s 68 points. The game was tied headed into halftime, but the Bonnies came alive late and extended their lead beyond 10 points.
The story of the season so far is Holmes.
He has been on fire offensively for the Bonnies, averaging 27 points per game over his last three games. He is shooting 65% from three-point range over his last three games, and is 13th nationally in three-point percentage. The only loss of the season for the Bonnies came against Rhode Island, where Holmes was dealing with back spasms and had to sit out of most of the game.
Not only is Holmes playing great, but Adaway has also been a key addition to this year’s starting lineup. He is shooting 73% from the field, which leads the Atlantic 10, and has scored in double figures two games in a row.
Adaway’s quick reflexes and leaping ability allow teammates to throw alley-oops to him from the high post when teams play zone defense.
Duquesne is 3-4 on the season, losing to George Washington, Davidson, Dayton and Little Rock.
The Dukes’ top two guards and starters, Maceo Austin and Sincere Carry, stepped away from the team this past week. However, Bona head coach Coach Mark Schmidt isn’t taking this game lightly and was asked about if the departure of those two players changes his approach to the game.
“It doesn’t change, and we better play our A game if we’re going to win,” Schmidt said. “(Michael) Hughes and (Marcus) Weathers are loads inside and are really good players, and (Tavian) Dunn-Martin is tough. We couldn’t guard him down in Pittsburgh last year. They are a very physical team, very similar to Rhode Island.”
Dunn-Martin scored a game-high 25 points and shot 7-for-15 from beyond the arc in Duquesne’s 83-80 loss to Bona last season in a game that was played at Robert Morris. The Dukes got their revenge in the Reilly Center less than three weeks later, however, by beating SBU in overtime, 81-77. Osun Osunniyi had 23 points and 13 rebounds in that game.
The Bonnies have played the Dukes 124 times, and in the last 10 meetings, the Bonnies are 8-2. However, in those matchups, the Bonnies have only won by six points or fewer or fewer in seven of the 10 games. Duquesne is coming off a loss at Dayton on Tuesday.
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