Photo by Dan Nelligan
St. Bonaventure beat the Binghamton 90-64 tonight. Moses Flowers led all scorers with 25 points off the bench. The Bonnies got off to a sluggish start on the defensive end but kept themselves in the game with a solid offensive effort. The second half saw Mark Schmidt’s team lock in on the defensive side of the ball while continuing to score at a high pace. Here’s how it went down in tonight’s 26-point victory.
The Bonnies came out of the gates sloppy this evening. After Chad Venning won the opening tipoff, Symir Torrence grabbed the steal and bucket in transition to open the scoring. The Bearcats would push the lead to 4-0 as Tymu Chenery flushed a dunk. The Bonnies finally got on to the board as Assa Essamvous knocked down the mid-range and Daryl Banks followed that with a jumper to tie the game.
The teams would go back and forth for most of the opening half as the Bonnies looked sluggish early. Torrence and Venning traded layups before Chenery went one of two from the free throw line and Dan Petcash knocked down a jumper. Mika Adams-Woods would register the old fashioned three-point play to knot the game at nine as the game hit the first media timeout.
Binghamton came out of the break with two quick buckets, but Mark Schmidt’s bench responded. Kyrell Luc knocked down a three before Flowers hit back-to-back jumpers which prompted a timeout from Binghamton head coach Levell Sanders. The Bearcats responded immediately to the timeout as Torrence cashed in a triple on the next possession. Venning and Tariq Balogun traded buckets before Armon Harried’s layup put Binghamton back in front. Noel Brown then got to the rim, drew the foul and completed the three-point play.
The teams continued to trade baskets over the next few minutes as Petcash, Chenery, Flowers and Adams-Woods combined for five points for their respective teams. The Bonnies then took advantage of a Bearcat turnover as Banks scored to push the slim lead to three. Petcash immediately countered with a game-tying triple on the next possession. St. Bonaventure followed that with a 6-0 run over the next two minutes as Pride and Adams-Woods both banged threes. The Bonnies led 34-28 with just under three minutes to go in the first half.
Binghamton would not go away as Nehemiah Benson answered with a jumper and Chenery knocked down one of two free throws. On the next possession, Flowers cahsed in from beyond the arc to push the lead back to six. The teams traded two pairs of buckets before Balogun knocked down a jumper to end the half. The Bonnies led 41-37 at the break.
Flowers led all scorers at halftime with 10 points while Adams-Woods followed close behind with eight. Chenery and Petcash were tied for the Bearcat scoring lead over the opening 20 minutes while Torrence had notched seven. The Bearcats shot 15/27 (55.6%) from the floor, 3/7 (42.9%) from beyond the arc and 4/6 from the free throw line in the opening frame. The Bonnies shot 17/31 (54.8%) from the field, 5/12 (41.7%) from deep and a perfect 2/2 from the charity stripe in the first half. Binghamton outrebound St. Bonaventure 14-13 while turning the ball over seven times compared to the Bonnies six.
Chenery came out of the locker room on fire as he notched the first six Binghamton points of the second half. Venning made sure to break up Chenery’s run with an and-one layup to keep Bonas in front. Banks notched a pair of free throws and Petcash made a wide-open layup before Pride took over. The fifth-year senior cashed a three, grabbed a defensive rebound and knocked down a deep two to force another Bearcat timeout. The Bonnies now led 51-45.
Balogun was fouled by Assa on the other side of the timeout as he made one of his two free throw attempts. Flowers then put the Bonnies right back on the attack with a three. Adams-Woods followed that by making a pair of free throws to give Bonas the first double-digit lead of the evening. Torrence would put an end to the 10-1 Bonnie run with a jumper but was immediately answered by newly inserted Luc’s mid-range make. Luc cashed in another jumper before committing a foul. Balogun took advantage of the foul with a perfect trip to the free throw line.
The game then became sloppy with a pair of Flowers turnover and Walsh missed shots. Brown settled the game down by working his way to the line multiple times. The backup center was able to sink five of his six free throws to give Bonaventure a 15-point lead. Flowers then worked his way to the line for a pair as the Bonnies had pulled away through defense and free throws. Walsh tried to make up for the last three fouls and turnover he had just committed with a layup, but he missed the chance for a three-point play. Flowers answered with a layup as the Bonnies led 69-52 at the under-eight media timeout.
The Bonnies continued to click following the break. Adams-Woods grabbed another two points before Flowers continued his big night. The redshirt senior knocked down another pair of free throws and then another triple to push the lead and his point total to 22 points. Evan Ashe got himself on the stat sheet for the Bearcats before Adams-Woods once again got to the hole for two. Next it was Venning’s turn to get involved in the offense. He hit a smothered hook in close along with grabbing a pair of boards. Unfortunately, he would commit his fourth foul of the game on the next possession. Following Benson’s and-one, the Bonnies led 80-59.
Flowers continued to ball as the clock ticked below four minutes as his fifth triple of the game pushed his point total up to 25. Pride got back into the scoring action with an NBA-ranged three before Brown grabbed a put-back lay in. Binghamton grabbed a few layups as Schmidt emptied his bench. Martinez added the exclamation point with a slam to push Bonaventure over 90. When the final buzzer sounded, the Bonnies took home a 90-64 victory.
Flowers led the game in scoring with his afore-mentioned 25 points. Adams-Woods was tied with Binghamton’s leading scorer, Chenery, with 14 points apiece. Pride, Brown and Petcash round out the players in double figures with 13, 12 and 10 points respectively.
The Bearcats shot 26/55 (47.3%) from the field, 3/15 (20.0%) from three and 9/14 (64.3%) from the free throw line. The Bonnies went 32/58 (55.2%) from the floor, 10/21 (47.6%) from beyond the arc and 16/18 (88.9%) from the charity stripe. St. Bonaventure outrebounded the Bearcats 33-27 while only turning the ball over 10 times compared to Binghamton’s 14.
Bonnie head coach Mark Schmidt spoke on his team’s defensive effort in tonight’s game. “We didn’t give any resistance in the first half,” said Schmidt, “We did better defensively in the second half, and it really helped us overall.” The 17th-year head coach then praised tonight’s leading scorer. “Moses played extremely well. He can score and we need scoring off the bench. He doesn’t just score either. He defends and rebounds, too,” said Schmidt.
The Bonnies improve to 8-3 while the Bearcats drop to 7-5. St. Bonaventure will be back in action next Saturday following the holiday break. The Bonnies will travel to Cleveland to face the Akron Zips. Tip is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 30.