Photo: Will Nunn / The Bona Venture
BY: WILL NUNN; CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SPORTS EDITOR
The career of St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball coach Mark Schmidt came to an end Friday, when the Bonnies fell to Dayton University 68-63 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship.
In front of a raucous crowd at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pa, a physical, chippy game came down to the final minute, with missed free throws and missed opportunities spelling doom for Bonaventure.
“I thought our guys fought, and I could not ask for a better effort,” said Schmidt. “We were right there, and everybody’s going to look at it like, we missed five shots at the end, but the game’s never lost at the end. There are so many plays between the beginning and the end.”
For Dayton (22-10, 12-6 A-10), senior guard Javon Bennett led the way, with a game-high 27 points, shooting 6-of-10 from beyond the arc. Senior guard Jordan Derkack went 10-of-12 from the free throw line to finish with 15 points, and sophomore forward Amaël L’Etang posted 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Pacing the Bonnies (17-17, 4-14 A-10) offense was junior guard Darryl Simmons II with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Senior forward Frank Mitchell added 16 points and six rebounds.
A back-and-forth affair, no team led by more than six in the first half. Dayton scored the first six points of the game thanks to 3-pointers from L’Etang and Bennett, but Bonaventure hung strong.
Bennett’s 12 first-half points and four 3-pointers powered Dayton to a 30-27 lead heading into the break. Sloppy with the ball, the Flyers turned the ball over eight times and shot 34.5% from the field in the half.
Mitchell was the only Bonnie to eclipse four first-half points, with 12. Bonaventure was held without a make from beyond the arc in the opening half, and shot just 33.3% from the floor.
Out of the break, the game only became tighter. The teams traded leads, and the two passionate fanbases traded energy-laden spurts for the majority of the second half.
Simmons and Derkack traded 3-pointers as the Flyers led by three at the under-12 media timeout, as both sets of fans gave their respective squads standing ovations.
With under seven minutes to play and Dayton up by three, chippiness set in after a contact-filled possession and a hard foul by Simmons briefly cleared the benches. Tension filled PPG Paints Arena as the sides separated and play continued.
Dayton extended its lead to six at the final media timeout. Down by four with 90 seconds to play, Bonaventure senior forward Cayden Charles was fouled on a 3-pointer, but missed all three of the ensuing free throws. Simmons cut the lead to two with a pair from the stripe with under a minute to play, and Derkack pushed the lead back to four with a pair of his own.
After Bowen missed a pair from the charity stripe on the other end, Dayton would close the game out at the line, and Schmidt would walk off the floor for the final time to a heartfelt ovation from the Bonaventure faithful.
“These guys stuck together,” said Schmidt. “It was disappointing in some of those losses, but I think it showed the character of our guys, the competitiveness, that they didn’t lay down. Those guys are disappointed, but I’m just proud.”
As his career came to a close, Schmidt reflected on what made his career at Bonaventure so special.
“It’s a great place,” said Schmidt. “Basketball is the fabric, it’s the heartbeat. Expectations are high, but it’s a good place with good people. That’s the biggest advice I got when I first got here, you have to be an Olean and Allegany guy, and you have to be part of the community, because that community, is prideful. I take pride in telling people that I’m an Olean guy.”
