Photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
BY: SAM WEILERT; STAFF WRITER
The St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball traveled down to New York City to match up with conference rival Fordham Rams Saturday afternoon and walked out with a 70-67 win.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with Fordham (12-12, 3-8 A-10) taking a 19-13 lead in the first 10 minutes, only for Bonaventure (14-10, 3-8 A-10) to strike back with a 14-0 run en route to a 27-19 advantage.
The Rams regained their composure after the run, however, and even went into halftime with a 34-33 lead over the Bonnies.
The second half was incredibly close from wire to wire, with the largest lead either team had being 67-63 Fordham with 3:27 left on the clock.
It was at that time that St. Bonaventure senior forward Frank Mitchell, who finished with six points, six rebounds, and six assists, grabbed an offensive rebound and passed it out to junior guard Darryl Simmons II, who hit a clutch three to cut the lead to one.
Two minutes later, with the score still deadlocked at 67-66, Simmons, who finished with a team high 23 points, four rebounds, and five assists, made another standout play. This time, he was on the assisting side as he lobbed an alley-oop that was slammed down by freshman center Andrew Osasuyi.
Osasuyi finished the contest with 12 points, three rebounds, four steals, and five blocks off the bench, and that bucket he scored ended up being the last lead change of the matchup.
Simmons made one more dagger two-point shot to make the score 70-67, and Fordham’s last-second heave to tie fell short as the Bonnies walked out of Rose Hill Gym with their third conference win of the season.
St. Bonaventure plays next on Feb. 14, in a Valentine’s Day home matchup with Duquesne (14-10, 6-5 A-10). The game tips off at 4 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Bonnies Online Network.
