BY JONNY WALKER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team suffered its first home loss of the season Saturday, 70-67, as Little Three rival Canisius rained 12 threes in front of a sold-out Reilly Center.
The Bonnies (1-1, 0-0 A-10) officially split their two-game homestand to start the season as the Golden Griffins (1-1, 0-0 MAAC) improved to .500 in back-to-back road contests. Bonaventure went into the break up seven, but Canisius led by as many as 14 following a 25-2 run early in the second half. A last-second half-court heave by graduate guard Charles Pride went long as time expired, sealing Bonaventure’s fate.
“I thought the game was lost in the beginning of the second half,” said Bona head coach Mark Schmidt. “I always try to stress to the team that it’s the first-five minutes of the second half.”
Canisius had four scorers in double digits. Junior guard Tre Dinkins led the team in scoring for the second-straight game with 13 of his 16 points coming in the first half. Senior guard Siem Uijtendaal added another 12.
“The thing we talked about most at halftime was that we had just not played very well,” said Canisius head coach Reggie Witherspoon. “ … Thankfully, Dink[ins], I think, kept us in the game.”
Bonaventure also had four scorers in double digits. Pride led the Bonnies in scoring for the second-straight game, tying with Dinkins for the game high of 16. Fellow guards Daryl Banks III and Mika Adams-Woods combined for 25 points. On the interior, forward Chad Venning had 14.
For the second-straight game, Bonaventure allowed 69-or-more points. Before the season, Schmidt said he expected his team’s newfound depth to allow them to play with greater defensive intensity.
“I thought our defense was poor,” said Schmidt. “Every time we gave them an open shot, they knocked it down — but we had some breakdowns.”
Bonaventure’s season continues Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn as the Bonnies compete in The Legends Classic, a two-day multi-team event. Bona plays Oklahoma State in the tournament’s opening round.
“We’re lucky we’re able to play in tournaments like that early on,” said Schmidt. “We’re looking forward to it, and hopefully we can have a bounceback, have a couple good days of practice, then go down there and have a good showing.”
walkerjc20@bonaventure.edu
