Photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
BY: WILL NUNN, CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SPORTS EDITOR
The St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team used a second-half surge to defeat Loyola University Chicago Wednesday for its first conference win of the season, 84-70.
Both teams entered the contest sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic 10 standings and looking to snap five-game losing streaks.
Junior guard Darryl Simmons II led the charge for the Bonnies (12-7, 1-5 A-10), pouring in a season-high 26 points. After scoring just five in the first half and shooting 1-of-6 from deep, Simmons scored 21 second-half points, knocking down five triples.
Senior forward Frank Mitchell scored 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and senior guard Cayden Charles added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Bonnies.
Senior forward Joshua Ola-Joseph paced the offense for the Ramblers (5-15, 1-6 A-10) with 20 points. Freshman guard Nic Anderson added 15 points and six rebounds, and junior center Miles Rubin chipped in with eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Ramblers led for the majority of what was a tightly-contested first half before pulling away late in the half. An 18-8 run to end the half put Loyola ahead 42-30 heading into the break.
Ola-Joseph led the way with 13 first-half points for the Ramblers, knocking down four three-pointers in the first. Anderson and Rubin added nine and eight points, respectively in the opening half.
The Bonnies struggled to find a rhythm from beyond the arc in the first half, shooting just 2-of-11 from deep. Mitchell led the Bonnies with 10 points going into the break.
The intensity ramped up and the threes started to fall as the Bonnies fought back early in the second half, cutting the lead to 46-41 by the under-16 media timeout behind strong starts by Simmons and senior forward Daniel Egbuniwe.
Turnovers played a major role in the Ramblers’ second-half collapse. Loyola turned the ball over 16 times in the game and 12 times in the second half compared to just four turnovers for Bonaventure.
Seven straight points from Simmons put the Bonnies up 59-57 with nine minutes to play, giving the Bonnies their first lead since 4-2. This was part of a 19-0 run that put the Bonnies ahead 67-57 inside of seven minutes remaining. Bonaventure would never relinquish the lead en route to its first Atlantic 10 win of the season.
The Bonnies return to action on Friday, when they host No. 24 Saint Louis University at the Reilly Center. The game is scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN2 and the Bonnies Online Network.
