Photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
BY: WILL NUNN; CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SPORTS EDITOR
The St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team’s upset bid fell short against No. 16 North Carolina, suffering a 85-70 defeat in Fort Myers, Fla.
Bonaventure (5-1) were led by junior guard Darryl Simmons II, who paced the offense with 22 points, shooting 9-of-16 from the field and 4-of-6 from three. Senior forward Frank Mitchell added 18 points and six rebounds. Senior forward Daniel Egbuniwe scored a season-high eight points in 23 minutes off the bench.
Carolina (6-0) got a career-high 24 points to go along with 13 rebounds from junior center Henri Veesaar. The native of Tallinn, Estonia went 9-of-14 from the floor. Freshman forward Caleb Wilson added 20 points and 12 rebounds, shooting a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line.
An early 9-0 run put the Tar Heels in front 15-5 at the under-16 media timeout, which carried Carolina to their largest lead of the first half, a 23-12 advantage just over eight minutes into the game.
The Bonnies stormed back, with Mitchell tying the game at 28 with 6:28 left in the half, forcing North Carolina to call a timeout.
The Tar Heels clung to a 35-33 lead going into the halftime break. Wilson led UNC with nine points and five rebounds in the first half. Simmons and Mitchell led the Bonnies with 10 first-half points each.
The Bonnies were able to keep the game close in the first half in part due to their defensive pressure. Bonaventure forced UNC into 11 first-half turnovers, committing just four turnovers of their own.
North Carolina came out of the break firing, opening up a 47-38 lead three minutes into the second half, and would never look back. The Bonnies went cold from the field, and a 9-0 run would put the Tar Heels up 58-43 with 12 minutes to play.
The large discrepancy in free throw attempts played into the Tar Heels hand in their victory. Carolina went 21-of-27 from the charity stripe, while Bonaventure shot just 5-of-8 from the line.
Bonnies senior guard Cayden Charles, who had scored at least 12 points in each game this season coming into Tuesday, was held scoreless for the first 34 minutes of game action. Charles finished with just six points and six rebounds.
The Bonnies remain in Fort Myers for a Thanksgiving matchup with East Carolina University Thursday at 12 p.m. at Suncoast Credit Union Arena. The game will be aired live on Fox Sports One and broadcast on the Bonnies Online Network.
