Bonnies outlast the Bulls, 66-60

By Paul Casey Gotham

BUFFALO, NY –Andrew Nicholson started and Matthew Wright capped a 15-0 run as the St. Bonaventure Bonnies defeated the Buffalo Bulls 66-60 in Big 4 action at Alumni Arena.

Wright hit a running jumper in the lane and followed on the next possession with a 3 from Charlon Kloof to give the Bonnies a lead they would never surrender at 56-46.

Trailing by five, Andrew Nicholson started the rally when he grabbed  a Da’Quan Cook attempt late in the shot clock and finished at the rim.

Demitrius Conger tied the score at 46 when Eric Mosley fed him for a trey.

The back court tandem reversed roles the next time down the floor with Conger creating space in transition and giving a backwards shovel pass for another trifecta. The play started on the defensive end when Nicholson swatted away a pass attempt from Tony Watson to Titus Robinson. Conger corralled the loose ball and busted up the court before findiing Mosley trailing the play.

Zach Filzen paced the Bulls early in the second stanza. The senior guard scored eight points in the first three minutes of the half and 11 in the over eight.

Javon McCrea started the half with a rebound and putback of a Jarod Oldham 3-point attempt.  Filzen followed with two of his six three-pointers on the night.

“He’s a really good shooter,” Kloof said. “It’s hard just to guard him, but it is also hard because you have to shy away from your principles on defense and your help side.”

Filzen gave UB the lead at 46-41 when he took two dribbles off a Mitchell Watt ball screen and pulled up from behind the arc.

Fittingly, Filzen ended SBU’s run when he and Watt connected on a back door cut and Filzen finished with a reverse layup.

But the Bulls never recovered from the six-minute drought which created a ten-point deficit.

“We defended,” SBU head coach Mark Schmidt said. “And that’s how you make runs. We challenged the guys after the Arkansas State game. We needed to play with more emotion. We need to play tougher. We emphasize to our guys stops and scores.  We were scoring, but we were playing defense. That’s the key.”

The win stopped a two-game slide for the Bonnies including the loss to Arkansas State, Thursday. A game which SBU led by 13 at half.

“It was  a must win,” Nicholson said of the victory. “This was a game on the road against a good team in their arena.”

The Bulls held the pre-season Wooden Award candidate in check for nearly ten minutes. Then Nicholson scored on three consecutive possessions. Nicholson slipped past UB defenders, grabbed Wright’s layup and put back the rebound for his first basket of the game.

On the next trip, Mosley deftly stepped through a Buffalo double-team 40 feet from the basket and feathered a pass over the defense to Nicholson who flushed it home. Michael Davenport set up Nicholson 10 feet from the basket, and the senior forward knocked down the jumper over the outstretched hands of Watt.

“My teammates found me at the right time,” Nicholson explained. “We were focused more than we were the last two games, and it paid off.”

Nicholson led the Brown and White with 23 points and eight rebounds. Conger chipped in 11 and Wright had 10.

But the story of the night came from the Bonnies ability to adapt, and the contributions from new players.

Depsite struggling in the past against zone defenses, Bona shot nearly 60 percent (13-22) after the break. The Bulls tried a variety of looks without success.  UB shifted from 2-3 to 1-3-1 after a timeout, but the Bonnies had no trouble with it. Wright dribbled from right to left and hit Youssou Ndoye at the left elbow who, without hesitation, redirected the orange globe with a diagonal pass to Nicholson at the right block for another dunk.

Ndoye played 19 minutes off the bench grabbing four rebounds, blocking two shots and adding two points to the cause. The freshman will play a valuable role over the next few months as the Bonnies continue to adjust to the loss of Marquise Simmons to injury.

Kloof shined in his first career start with the Bonnies. The sophomore transfer from the Canarias Basketball Academy pasted fours throughout the stat sheet with a quartet of points, assists and rebounds to go with two steals.

“I know the moment coach made the decision,” Kloof said of his first start. “He was confident enough at putting me in, so I can’t hesitate.”

Kloof made his mark on the game when he stole a pass in the open floor and finished at the other end with a thunderous hammer dunk past Watt.

The Bonnies scored nine fast break points while holding the Bulls to zero.

Filzen led all scorers with 26 on 10-16 shooting including 6-8 behind the arc. McCrea added 15 and Watt had 10. Dave Barnett pulled down eight boards for the Bulls, and Oldham dished five dimes.

Buffalo outrebounded Bonaventure 36-33 including 12 on the offensive glass which they converted to 12 second-chance points.

The Bonnies travel to Illinois, Wednesday for a tilt with Big Ten foe Illinois. The 9 PM start will be televised in ESPN2.

The Bulls travel to Niagara for a 7 PM tipoff. The game will be televised locally on Time Warner.