By Jeremy Castro
Sports Assignment Editor
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team have now won back-to-back games for the first time in 2018 after defeating George Washington University 70-52 at the Reilly Center on Sunday, Jan. 28.
The Bonnies were once again much improved on the defense end, holding the Colonials to 32.1 percent on 18-56 from the field and 25.0 percent on 4-16 from behind the line.
“I thought the overall defensive performance was really good,” head coach Mark Schmidt said. “To hold them [George Washington] under 40 percent in both halves and under 30 percent from threes, that is something we try to do, and that is a goal of ours.”
Despite this, the Bonnies did not have the best first half offensively, only shooting 33.3 percent on 10-30 from the field. However, as the team’s strong defense continued, the game eventually opened up, and the baskets started falling.
“In the first half, we played really good defense, we were just not converting,” Schmidt said. “We forced 11 turnovers but we only eight points [off turnovers.] I thought we came out in the first five minutes in the second half and played as good of defense as we did in the first half, but now we started converting. We had 14 assists in the second half, which is really good.
After being down by as many as eight points, the Bonnies took the lead with 7:03 left in the first and did not look back, thanks in large part to the team’s two senior guards, Matt Mobley and Jaylen Adams.
Mobley had a game high 24 points and made five three-pointers, four coming in the second half.
Adams, despite only having 13 points, had a strong impact on the game by having eight assists and drawing a lot of defensive attention away from his teammates, especially from the Colonials’ best defender Yuta Watanabe.
“It’s tough,” George Washington head coach Maurice Joseph said while discussing having to guard both Mobley and Adams. “They [Adams and Mobley] produce a lot for their team. They both shoot the ball really well. They both have the ultimate green light. They are both experienced veteran guards. It is a perfect combination…they are deadly.”
Junior Courtney Stockard had 12 points and seven rebounds, and big man Amadi Ikpeze had six rebounds in 15 minutes of play, providing good energy off the bench.
The Bonnies now go back out on the road for the next two games, taking on George Mason on Jan. 31 and Duquesne on Feb. 3. The team returns to the Reilly Center on Feb. 7 to take on Saint Louis.
signorra15@bonaventure.edu
