Photo: Sean Wallace / The Bona Venture
BY: WILL NUNN; CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SPORTS EDITOR
Using its highest scoring output of the season, the St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team defeated La Salle University 99-80 in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championship Wednesday, extending Head Coach Mark Schmidt’s career by another day.
The Bonnies (16-16, 4-14 A-10) equaled their third-best shooting performance of the season, shooting 56.7% from the field. The 13 made 3-pointers ties Bonaventure’s season high.
Five Bonnies scored in double figures, led by 21 points from junior guard Darryl Simmons II, who knocked down five 3-pointers. Senior forward Frank Mitchell added 18 points and nine rebounds.
Senior guard Cayden Charles and redshirt junior guard Dasonte Bowen each recorded 16 points. Charles grabbed seven rebounds and Bowen dished out a game-high nine assists.
“I think the most important thing was we were just making the right play each time,” said Bowen. “We have a lot of guys that can make shots and that’s what happened today.”
Redshirt sophomore guard Rob Dockery administered the majority of the offense for the Explorers (9-24, 5-13 A-10), scoring a game-best 33 points on 11-of-22 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds.
Freshman guard Ashton Walker recorded 15 points and six assists and graduate guard Truth Harris added 11 points.
Both teams pushed the tempo in the early going, with Dockery and Simmons powering their respective offenses. The Bonnies jumped out to a 22-14 lead with eight minutes left in the half.
The La Salle offense then went cold, being held scoreless over the final 3:46 of the first half, as Bonaventure used a 10-0 run to open up a 48-33 halftime lead.
Dockery led all scorers with 19 points in the first half and added five rebounds for the Explorers. No other Explorer had more than four points before halftime.
Simmons paced the Bonaventure offense with 13 first-half points. Bowen added nine points and Charles tallied seven points and six rebounds in the half.
The second half began with more of the same for Bonaventure, as Simmons knocked down a 3-pointer less than four minutes into the half to cap off a 7-0 run which stretched the lead to 58-37.
Bonaventure would lead by as many as 26 points in the second half en route to the first round victory.
“As I told the team, in tournament play you have to win the first one,” said Schmidt. “I thought our guys really played hard, played together unselfishly, and now we move on to play a good George Mason team that’s beaten us twice.”
The Bonnies advance to play the No. 5 seed George Mason University Patriots in the second round on Thursday. The game is scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast live on USA Network and the Bonnies Online Network.
