Photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
BY: WILL NUNN; CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SPORTS EDITOR
For the St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team, Saturday’s game at George Mason University was a chance to pick up momentum going into the final week of the season. Instead, George Mason used a hot start and continued pressure to lead wire-to-wire and pick up a 71-58 win and snap a four-game losing streak.
Junior forward Riley Allenspach and senior guard Masai Troutman each scored 21 points to lead the way for the Patriots (22-7, 10-6 A-10). Graduate guard Jahari Long added 11 points and six assists.
The Bonnies (15-14, 4-12 A-10) were led by redshirt junior guard Dasonte Bowen, whose 16 points and three steals led the team. Senior forward Frank Mitchell recorded his fifth consecutive double-double–and 17th of the season–with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Junior guard Darryl Simmons II added 14 points and a team-high five assists.
The Patriots were red hot from the onset of the opening jump, squashing all of the momentum Bonaventure entered the game with, firing out to an 8-0 lead, and leading 14-2 after the first five minutes. The Bonnies bounced right back with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 14-7, but that is as close as it would be in the first half.
George Mason extended its lead to as many as 13 in the first half and carried a 39-27 lead into halftime. The Patriots shot 50% from the floor and knocked down eight of their 13 attempts from beyond the arc in the half.
Allenspach paced the Patriot offense with 12 points and four rebounds in the first half, shooting 5-of-8 from the field. Troutman and Long each added seven points before halftime.
Only three players scored for Bonaventure in the first half, with Mitchell, Bowen and Simmons each scoring nine points. Mitchell added nine first-half rebounds and Bowen picked up two steals.
In the first three minutes of the second half, Bonaventure cut the deficit to five scoring the first seven points out of the break. The run was short-lived, however, as a subsequent 8-0 George Mason run put the Patriots back up by 13.
It was all George Mason the rest of the way, as the Patriots led by as many as 20 points en route to a blowout win.
The Bonnies remain on the road for their penultimate game of the season, Wednesday, March 4 at George Washington University. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and the Bonnies Online Network.
