Photo: GoBonnies.com
BY NATHAN SOLOMON, SPORTS EDITOR
NEW YORK — After three consecutive road victories against power conference teams, St. Bonaventure had the opportunity they wished for: a home game. Thousands of students and alumni traveled to Madison Square Garden to root on the Bonnies, who stood just a win away from a berth in the National Invitational Tournament championship game.
But, unlike the first three games of the tournament, St. Bonaventure lacked one thing — defense. Allowing 53% shooting, the Bonnies never kept up with the Xavier Musketeers, falling 84-77 in the tournament semifinals.
“We didn’t give up,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said. “The toughness of our guys, mentally and physically, was really impressive. Only one team can win [the tournament]. These five seniors don’t have to hold their heads down.”
St. Bonaventure (23-10) opened the scoring in the first minute with a Jalen Adaway alley-oop off a pass from Jaren Holmes and followed with a Dominick Welch 3-pointer. But, the Bonnies quickly fell cold, allowing Xavier (22-13) to race ahead 19-7 after seven minutes.
St. Bonaventure shot just 9-of-30 in the first half, and after 20 minutes, the Bonnies trailed 38-23 to the Musketeers.
“We struggled offensively. We had a lot of good looks, we just couldn’t make them,” Schmidt said. “Our offense really affected our defense in the first half.”
The Bonnies needed an offensive change in the second half, and that’s exactly what happened. They scored 54 points, the most in a half all season, but it wouldn’t matter. Xavier made 67% of their shots to hold strong against St. Bonaventure.
The Bonnies cut their defecit down to nine with 14:26 left but couldn’t get any closer until the six-minute mark. Trailing by 10, Holmes connected on a jumper and Welch hit a difficult corner 3-pointer to cut the margin to five. Welch made seven 3-pointers on the night and scored a career-high 25 points.
“This is pretty much a dream come true for me today — just playing in MSG, really the mecca of basketball,” Welch said. “The ball was coming to me, I was feeling good and I was knocking shots down tonight.”
Xavier went on a 5-1 spurt over the next minute and the Bonnies struggled to draw closer. They cut the defecit to seven or less seven times in the final five minutes and lost by seven points.
“We were down, but if you were in those huddles, there wasn’t any panic,” Schmidt said. “It was like, we have to play harder and we have to play more together. That’s what happens when you have mature men. They have been in the fire. They understand what it takes. We came up short.”
Complementing Welch, Kyle Lofton scored 15 points and dished 11 assists. He notched his second double-double of the season.
“I got — foul a lot, a lot of kick-outs, just playing my game and not forcing anything,” Lofton said. “Luckily [Welch] was on fire today, so that helped me.”
Adam Kunkel, Zach Freemantle and Jack Nunge each scored 18 points for Xavier. Colby Jones added 16. The Musketeers outrebounded the Bonnies, 38-28.
St. Bonaventure ends its season with 23 victories, which is fourth in program history. The team started five seniors, all of whom have one year of eligibility remaining. At this time, it’s unclear whether any of the players will excersie the extra season.
“Those kids are special,” Schmidt said. “I wouldn’t be sitting here and I wouldn’t have the opportunity to coach at Madison Square Garden without their efforts.
“It’s a family.”
solomonj20@bonaventure.edu
