St. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — With their leading scorer limited by foul trouble, the St. Bonaventure Bonnies went looking for alternatives.
They didn’t need to go far to find what was needed.
Demetrius Conger keyed a 22-9 run to end the first half, and the St. Bonaventure Bonnies went on to an 82-63 victory over the Fordham Rams in Atlantic 10 action Wednesday night at the Reilly Center.
Conger connected three times from behind the arc and handed out two assists in the final nine minutes before the break as the Bonnies took a 37-23 lead into the half.
“We just try to play team basketball, and get the ball around, run the offense, and whoever scores, scores,” Conger commented. “Different nights it could be different people.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5WRbumTbdE]
Conger came to the rescue just in time. With the pesky Rams on a 12-8 run, Andrew Nicholson went to the bench with his second foul of the game.
Michael Davenport found Conger open on the left wing, and the sophomore forward drilled his first 3 of the night.
Conger and Davenport connected again less than a minute later, and the Bonnies led 21-16.
With the defense extending on him, Conger used an upfake to penetrate the paint and dish to Brett Roseboro who hit from 12 feet.
Da’Quan Cook added a layup before Roseboro got a tap-in.
Ogo Adegboye split the top of the 2-3 zone and fed Roseboro for another deuce. On the next possession, Adegboye hit a pull-up jumper from the free throw line. He followed that with a trifecta off a baseline-out-of-bounds play, and the Bonnies led 34-23.
But they weren’ done.
After a Fordham turnover, the Bonnies called a timeout with :09 remaining in the stanza. On the ensuing play, Adegboye penetrated the lane and fed Conger filling behind for the open trey and the 14-point half-time lead.
The Bonnies shot 59.2 percent for the game including 63.6 percent from behind the arc while holding the Rams to just 38.5 percent.
“The players have done a great job in bouncing back from losses,” head coach Mark Schmidt commented. “We lost against Richmond. We didn’t play well. We had a ten-hour bus ride back, but our guys are mentally tough.”
Despite being winless in the A10 and losers of their last fourteen games, Fordham would not go away quietly. Alberto Estwick kept the Rams close with a trio of rebound and putback baskets. Estwick added a pull-up 3 from the left, and Fordham trailed 10-7. Chris Gaston hit a free throw, and the Rams trailed by one at 18-17.
“We always approach every game like you got to play well to win,” Schmidt said. “Even though Fordham was 0-and-12, you never want to be the team that they break the streak on. You can’t take anybody lightly. Fordham is in a situation where they have nothing to lose. We got a season on the line.”
Nicholson staked the Bonnies to an early 10-4 lead at the first media timeout.
The junior finished with a jump hook in the lane. Marquise Simmons grabbed an offensive rebound and finished with the putback. Nicholson slipped behind the 2-3 zone, and Ogo Adegboye snapped off a pass which the Mississauga, Ontario native slammed it home with his right hand. Next trip down the floor, Nicholson created space making two dribbles out of the post. With the Rams expecting a relocation pass, Nicholson squared and hit from 12 feet.
Nicholson grabbed his own miss and finished for a 13-11 Bonnies lead.
On the defensive end, Nicholson stopped Brenton Butler on a baseline drive. Davenport corralled the rebound and started the break with an outlet pass to Conger who returned the favor for Davenport to deliver a powerful one-handed dunk over Lamount Samuell.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv2WcD7WJVo]
Nicholson went to the bench moments later with his second infraction.
“We talk to the players about defending, rebounding and taking care of the basketball,” Schmidt explained. “For the most part, we’ve done that. We’re finishing plays and finishing games. The kids have bought into that you have to play every possession. They understand what they need to do to be successful in this league, and they’re doing it. It’s good to see. It’s not just one guy. Everybody talks about Andrew. It’s not just Andrew, and tonight was a prime example. Andrew plays 18 minutes, and we have other guys step up.”
Conger finished with 18 points, 6 assists and 5 steals. Nicholson added 16 while Adegboye had 14 and Roseboro 12. Adegboye also had six assists.
Estwick had a game-high 21. Samuell chipped in with 12 and Gaston added 11 to go with a game-high nine rebounds.
Fordham falls to 6-and-19 on the season.
The Bonnies improve to 7-and-6 in the conference and 15-and-11 overall.
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