Second half run pushes the Bonnies past Rhode Island

By:Isaiah Blakely

The St. Bonaventure Bonnies had a slow start offensively again in the Barclays Center, this time in the semifinals against the Rhode Island Rams.

The Bonnies picked it up on both ends of the floor late in the first half. The momentum and confidence carried through the rest of the game as the Bonnies (18-15) defeated the Rams (18-15) 68-51 to move on to the Atlantic 10 tournament final tomorrow afternoon.

The Rams came out fast early on holding a 22-12 lead with nine minutes left in the first half. Rhode Island guards Jeff Dowtin and Fatts Russell scored a combined 18 points on 8-29 shooting. Seven of their points were scored early in the first half. Junior Cyril Langevine lead the Rams in scoring with 15 points.

Rhode Island’s defense was also giving the Bonnies fits early. The Bonnies were shooting 3-14 halfway through the first half.

The Rams took a 15-point lead after a Tyrese Martin three pointer with four minutes left in the half.

Then the Bonnies made their run.

The Bonnies went on a 13-0 run led by Bonaventure’s freshmen Dominick Welch and Kyle Lofton.

Welch helped keep the Bonnies afloat in the first half scoring 10 of his 13 points in the first half.

Lofton was good all afternoon scoring 23 points and adding five assists.

“The freshmen don’t play like freshmen. Kyle (Lofton) in my opinion was the best guy on the court,” Bonnies head coach Mark Schmidt said.

The Bonnies went into the locker room down 29-27. Second half was more of the same for the Bonnies.

The Bonnies outscored Rhode Island 41-22 in the second half.

The Bonnies offense also got some help from their big men. LaDarien Griffin and Osun Osunniyi combined for 5 points in the first half. Second half the duo combined for 19 points. The senior Griffin had 13 points and six rebounds while the freshman Osunniyi had a double-double 10 points 11 rebounds and four blocks.

Senior Courtney Stockard struggled from field only shooting 1-11 but free throws from him, Griffin and Lofton helped put the game away. The Bonnies as a team shot 16-17 from the line.

Along with the almost perfect free throw shooting from the Bonnies, the Rams went seven and a half minutes without a field goal. During that period the Bonnies went on a 20-3 run that gave them a 21-point lead.

The Bonnies calling card continues to be defense as they move to 15-0 when holding opponents to under 60 points. The Bonnies have also held 10 straight opponents to under 40 percent shooting.

“It’s the best defensive team we’ve had since I’ve been the coach,” Schmidt said. “It’s a mindset. We’re not a great offensive team. We haven’t been a great offensive team all year, but the kids are figuring it out that in order for us to win we’ve got to defend.”

The Bonnies face off against the winner of Saint Louis and Davidson for the Atlantic 10 tournament title and a ticket to the NCAA tournament tomorrow at 1:00.

PC: GoBonnies.com

Current SGA constitution “null and void”

By Elyse Breeze

[Featured image courtesy of the Student Government Association. From left to right: Chief Justice Noah Burton; Associate Justice Samantha Gier; Associate Justice Colleen Corrado; Associate Justice Bradi Hopkins; Associate Justice Anthony Minchella; Associate Justice Nathanial Discavage]

The Student Government Association at St. Bonaventure University last operated on a legally ratified constitution in 2011.

Over the last five years, the SGA executive board has not consulted the student body with any proposed amendments to make to the official constitution.

The first SGA meeting of the spring 2016 semester opened with a report from president Rose Brown explaining that any and all amendments made to the constitution since 2011 have been “null and void.”

Continue reading “Current SGA constitution “null and void”” →

Men’s basketball: Delaware preview

By Jeff Fasoldt, @Jeff_Fasoldt

The Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens are 0-10 with a few tough three/four point losses on their résumé so far. They are desperate to get a ‘W’ on the board as they take on the St. Bonaventure University Bonnies at the Bob Carpenter Center Tuesday night at 7.

The St. Bonaventure Bonnies men’s basketball team will look to bounce back after a tough loss to Maryland-Eastern Shore a week ago at the Reilly Center that dropped the Bonnies record to 7-3 with losses coming to Siena, Pitt and Maryland-Eastern Shore so far.

A-10 play begins January third against UMass, so it’s important Bonnies head coach, Mark Schmidt, has all the kinks worked out of his young team as the battles begin.

Delaware is desperate and this could be a “trap game” for the brown and white with the big game against UMass right around the corner.

Here’s a full breakdown for the game Tuesday night:

The Coaches:

St. Bonaventure- Mark Schmidt. 114-112 as Bonnies head coach.

Delaware- Monté Ross. 115-141 as Blue Hens head coach

Key players for the Blue Hens:

Kyle Anderson- 6-3 senior guard. Has only played in three games for the Blue Hens this season but has been strong averaging 17.7 points per game and is shooting it well from beyond the arc at 33 percent. He ranked third in University of Delaware history in three pointers coming into the season with 215.

Cazmon Hayes- 6-4 sophomore guard. Has played all ten games for Delaware this season and has strong numbers at 13.9 points per game, 33 percent from three-point range and is averaging 3.4 rebounds per game. Hayes leads the Hens with 10 steals on the season.

Key to victory for the Blue Hens:

Control the tempo. Bonaventure is a team that likes to run and get up and down the court. They will trap you, go for steals, do pretty much anything to force you to turn the ball over or set their team up for a fast-break. The Blue Hens will have to slow it down, set up their offense and hit open shots, which they’ve done all season despite their record.

Keys to victory for Bonaventure:

Don’t overlook the Hens. This Delaware team is 0-10 but that doesn’t matter at all. They’ve been missing two of their best players in Marvin King-Davis and Kyle Anderson to start the year and they now have them back. They only lost their last game at Robert Morris by three and they are desperate for a win and out for blood. Remember, this is a team that won the Colonial Athletic Association last year and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

My prediction: Bonaventure’s size wins this one for Mark Schmidt in a battle that will be surprisingly close to a lot of people, 66-59.

Women’s basketball: Michael’s defense leads Bona’s past Fordham

By Joseph Phelan, @JPhelan13

Fordham’s Erin Rooney entered today’s game against Bonaventure averaging 19 points a game.

She’s one of the best players in the league, and one of the best players Bonaventure has faced this year.

Although she had seven assists and nine rebounds, Rooney shot 3 for 16 from the field for 11 points.

You can thank Emily Michael for that.

Continue reading “Women’s basketball: Michael’s defense leads Bona’s past Fordham” →

T-shirts being sold until Jan. 26 to raise funds for Davis memorial

For Immediate Release:

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y., (Jan. 17) — Members of the Bonaventure community can purchase T-shirts in memory of Tyler Davis, a sophomore history major who passed away in November.

The shirts can be purchased through my.sbu.edu under the student services tab. There is a link titled “T-shirts for Tyler Davis” under the Bona Bus/Club Trips and Events category. The shirts are $12, or $16 for people who want the shirts shipped to them directly.

Orders can be placed until Sunday, Jan. 26.

Continue reading “T-shirts being sold until Jan. 26 to raise funds for Davis memorial” →

TT: This Day in Bonaventure History

By Joe Pinter, @JPinter93

October 10, 1969

The Vietnam War has been referred to as one of the darkest periods in our country’s history.

There were violent protests at schools across the country.

All across the nation, college students that had been drafted were burning their draft cards in protest to the war and the mandatory draft itself. This happened often at St. Bonaventure University although it is unknown exactly how many Bonaventure students participated.

The Oct. 10, 1969 issue of The Bona Venture featured a story about David James Edward Aud.

Aud graduated the previous year and had been student president. He believed that war and killing were immoral. Because of this, he did not wish to fulfill his military duty.

Aud was denied an appeal, and he decided to “wait it out” in Boston until he received a draft notice and faced arrest. The BV focused mainly on Aud’s story instead of the students burning draft cards. This was a display of Bonaventure’s emphasis on peace.

pinterjo11@bonaventure.edu

Editor Thanks Bonaventure Community

[All the ruined items being placed outside the Lazo’s house just two days after the Hurricane ripped through Rockaway – Photo by Ryan Lazo]

By Ryan Lazo, Co-editor in chief/feature columnist, @RMLazo13

If there was ever any doubt in my mind on whether I chose to attend the right university, there is no question I know the answer now.

St. Bonaventure University is a part of me forever after what occurred over the past week.

As most people know, my family and I were badly affected by Hurricane Sandy. We live in Rockaway Park in Queens, N.Y. My house sits one block away from Jamaica Bay and one block away from the beach and the Atlantic Ocean.

It’s a beautiful place to live, and I’ve cherished all my memories I have growing up in this tight-knit community.

However, Sandy changed everything.

The Category 1 hurricane roared into the peninsula and caused immediate havoc with a record storm surge of 10 to 12 feet. It immediately brought flooding to the area, and coupled with high tide and a full moon, the impact was devastating.

In the few times I was able to contact my family, they told me what was going on — flood water engulfing our entire first floor of the house and fires springing up all over my community.

I left for home as soon as I could and saw the damage first hand.

Everything was gone —My family’s clothes, furniture, my brother’s toys, DVDs and video games.

To help Ryan and his family, click here to visit the donation page.

The worst was cleaning up the photo albums which held pictures of my childhood, vacations and other cherished memories.

It hurt to see my mother immediately begin to cry as she watched my dad, my brother and me get to work and try to clean up the place that was once our home.

The boardwalk that brought tourists to our area and made it a must-travel summer destination, destroyed. Businesses gone in the blink of an eye, including my own father’s restaurant.

But then something unexpected happened.

Jim Mahar led BonaResponds to my community and, specifically, my home. The group, filled with some friends, Bona students and alumni, helped us clean it up in a matter of hours, tearing down walls, moving anything that could be salvaged and helping boost the morale of my family.

In addition to the immediate action of BonaResponds, my family and I were swarmed with texts, phone calls, messages and tweets from those within the Bona community reaching out with support.

And that support turned into a donation page, one that promised to help me and my family begin the recovery process.

In a time of need, the Bonaventure community showed its true colors.

It’s a community that is caring of each other, one that is not afraid to reach out and help those in need. Not only were they able to help me, but they were able to help my community, and the strangers we worked with quickly became family.

There are not enough words in the English language that can truly describe how thankful I am.

This university has not only given me an education and the tools to claim a job in the workforce — they gave me another family.

While a simple “Thank You” will not suffice for how much everyone within this amazing Bonaventure family has helped me, it truly is meant with all my heart.

The saying really is true — “Once a Bonnie, always a Bonnie.”

And I will never forget it.

lazorm09@bonaventure.edu

[A video compilation of the damage Hurricane Sandy did to the Rockaways]

This Day in Bonaventure History

By Joe Pinter, News Editors, @JPinter93

November 2, 1993

Dr. Alva Cellini, director of St. Bonaventure University’s Women’s Studies Program, says the goals of her program are to engage one to study women’s issues and promote the appreciation of human differences.

Many different courses are offered that address women’s influence and involvement in various topics. The larger goal is to restructure our thinking about society.

It was on this day that the idea for a women’s studies program at Bonaventure was first discussed.

pinterjo11@bonaventure.edu