BY: ANDREW HALE, MANAGING EDITOR
The No. 7 seeded St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team takes on the No. 6 seeded Duquesne Dukes in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Championships Saturday.
This is the third matchup of the season between the two teams. Duquesne defeated Bonaventure in both games.
At home in January, the Dukes won 54-50, securing their first A-10 victory of the season.
“We’ve got to play better,” said Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt. “Give them credit it was rough playing in Pittsburgh. Their guards hurt us.”
It was a combined victory for Duquesne as senior guard Jimmy Clark III led the Dukes in scoring with nine points.
Graduate senior guard Charles Pride scored a team-high 14 points for the Bonnies in the loss.
On the road in February, Duquesne defeated Bonaventure 75-69, stunning the Bonnies on their home floor.
“Overall, we’ve got to defend better,” said Schmidt. “We’ve got to rebound better. We’ve got to execute our offense better. We didn’t play our best in both games. Hopefully we can play better.”
Clark III once again led the Dukes in points with 15. Senior guard Dae Dae Grant, who did not play in the first matchup against the Bonnies, scored 12 points, shooting 6-6 from the free throw line.
“They’re great players,” said Bonnies redshirt senior Daryl Banks III. “They’re all-league players so we have to bring it. We know that they’re going to bring it. They beat us twice. We have a chip on our shoulder coming into the game.”
Both Pride and graduate senior guard Mika Adams-Woods combined for 43 points, however it was not enough as the Bonnies fell by six.
“They’re good, talented guards,” said Grant. “They’re a well-coached team and they’re well coached by their coach individually as guards. We just look forward to challenges and just try to continue to stick together, playing our style of basketball.”
12 of the last 18 games between the Dukes and the Bonnies have been decided by six points or less.
Bonaventure is coming off a double-overtime, one-point victory over the No. 2 seed Loyola Chicago Ramblers in the A-10 Quarterfinals.
“There’s no upsets,” said Schmidt. “It’s a whole new season. It’s just one game and it’s a whole different mindset.”
Duquesne is coming off a 65-57 win over the No. 1 seed Dayton Flyers.
“I think our guys showed tremendous resiliency and tremendous togetherness,” said Dukes’ head coach Keith Dambrot. “I think they have a chip on their shoulder. They don’t really care whether they’re the favorite or the underdog. They’re smart enough to know that this league is a fine line.”
However, if the Dukes want to advance to the A-10 Championship Game they’ll have to beat Bonaventure for a third time.
“I’m pretty sure they watch film, so they’re probably looking at the things we did and trying to disrupt our offense or figure out some things on their offensive end,” said Clark III. “Just watching film, I feel like they’re going to come in and try to do something different. But if we stick to our game plan and what we do best, we’ll come out with the victory.”
The Bonnies look to advance to their first A-10 Championship Game since 2021.
“[We’re] just motivated, that’s all,” said Adams-Woods. “I feel like all the guys on the team, we’re just motivated. We know that they’re a good team, but we definitely have a chip on our shoulder and come tomorrow, we’ll show that.”
The tip is slated for 3:30 ET Saturday afternoon on CBS Sports Network.
“We’re competitors,” said Banks III. “So, the fact that we lost twice to them already, we want to get that win. This is the most meaningful one because it will end the season. We’re coming in with a chip on our shoulder.”
halea22@bonaventure.edu
