Photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
BY: WILL NUNN; CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SPORTS EDITOR
The 2025-26 season had gotten off to a great start for the St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team. The Bonnies picked up 11 wins in 13 games before the start of Atlantic 10 play. Led by 19th-year Head Coach Mark Schmidt, the squad proved its talent in quality wins against the likes of Bradley, Siena, Florida Atlantic and Buffalo and a hard-fought battle with nationally-ranked North Carolina.
Over the course of the non-conference schedule, the Bonnies looked like defensive stalwarts, able to grind out low-scoring wins. In the 13 games before the start of conference play, they allowed an average of 69.7 points per game.
The Brown and White were by no means a well-oiled machine, but balance and consistency were leading to victories. Senior forward Frank Mitchell recorded nine double-doubles in non-conference play while averaging 15 points per game, and senior guard Cayden Charles scored a dozen or more points nine times. Junior guard Darryl Simmons II averaged 14.5 points per game in the non-conference, eclipsing 20 points on three occasions.
Additionally, contrary to a typical Schmidt-led team, the Bonnies’ bench was running deep. 10 players appeared in at least nine non-conference games, with a trio of international freshmen–guards Achille Lonati and Ilia Ermakov and center Andrew Osasuyi–making impacts off the bench alongside a pair of seniors, forward Daniel Egbuniwe and guard Amar’e Marshall.
“Everybody’s going to get an opportunity,” said Schmidt following a road win over previously unbeaten Buffalo. “If you’re prepared and your name gets called, then you can produce. Daniel [Egbuniwe] has done that for us, Achille [Lonati] has done that, and Ilia [Ermakov] did it today, and that’s a team.”
Then as the calendar flipped to 2026, conference play began, the injury bug reared its ugly head and the wheels fell off.
As the Bonnies welcomed the new year, they traveled to Virginia to kick off Atlantic 10 play against reigning conference champions and preseason favorites Virginia Commonwealth University. The Bonnies would go into the game without a key piece off the bench, as Ermakov had suffered an ankle injury in the previous game.
Despite the depleted depth, Bonaventure hung around with the defending champs, leading late into the second half before a 10-0 VCU run sealed the Bonnies’ fate. It was a promising start to the conference slate for the Bonnies, in spite of the loss, but the injuries were piling up, as Marshall would be sidelined indefinitely after the loss.
The Bonnies rotation had been diminished, defensive intensity and physicality was lacking, and the results showed as much. Back-to-back tightly-contested home losses to Richmond and Fordham followed, and the Bonnies were swept in a trip to Philadelphia, Pa. by Saint Joseph’s and La Salle.
“I have to give [the Explorers] some credit but our defense certainly needs to improve,” said Associate Head Coach Sean Neal following the loss to La Salle, which dropped the Bonnies to 0-5 in the A-10. “They were the more physical, aggressive and more athletic team out there.”
Sitting winless in five conference games, the Bonnies got the momentum they desperately needed, erasing a 14-point deficit to defeat Loyola Chicago at home. All of this momentum was immediately squashed when nationally-ranked Saint Louis came to the Reilly Center on Jan. 23.
The Billikens shot 57.8% from the field, made 19 3-pointers and led by as many as 38 en route to a 97-62 thrashing, as boos rained down from the Reilly Center crowd.
“There’s only so much you can do,” Schmidt said after the loss. “They’re the best team in the league for a reason and when they shoot the ball like that they’re gonna be really difficult to beat.”
Bonaventure bounced back with a win on the road against Duquesne before heartbreaking losses at the hands of two of the A-10’s elite–George Mason and Dayton–dropped the Bonnies to 2-8 in the conference.
After a road win over Fordham, St. Bonaventure sits in 12th place in the Atlantic 10 with a 3-8 record, and a season once filled with so much promise now seems bleak. With seven games remaining on the regular season schedule–four of which are in the comfort of the Reilly Center–the Bonnies have the opportunity to turn the tide on this season, and they are not going to wave the white flag.
“It’s disappointing that we’re 3-8 in the league,” said Schmidt. “But the thing that I’m proud of is the guys have kept on fighting. It can wear on you both mentally and physically, but our guys haven’t given in. We may not win another game, but the effort is always going to be there.”
