Bona weathers storm and advances to A-10 championship game

By Paul Casey Gotham

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – What took more than 30 minutes to build nearly dissolved in a matter of moments.  It was in that latter sequence when the St. Bonaventure Bonnies showed their resolve.

Demitrius Conger notched a double-double leading all scorers with 22 as St. Bonaventure withstood a late rally to defeat the UMass Minutemen, 84-80 and advance to Sunday’s Atlantic 10 Championship at Boardwalk Hall.

Conger scored 13 as the Bonnies took a seven-point advantage in the first half.  He followed a Chris Johnson layup in traffic and finished the putback for a 26-23 Bona lead. He stretched the lead to five driving in the lane using a spin dribble for a layup and a 30-25 edge.  Conger duplicated the effort in the lane pushing the lead to 36-30.

“Demitrius was tremendous,” said Bona coach Mark Schmidt. “I tell guys all the time, you’re a big-time player when you play ‘big’ in big situations.”

Conger ended the half with another rebound and putback getting contact at the rim. One free throw  later, and the Brown and White took a 48-41 lead into the break.

“It was the flow of the game,” Conger said of his effort. “Just so happened I scored 22 points. It was team chemistry. I was open. They passed it to me.”

Bona went 18-of-32 from the floor in the first 20 minutes, much of that with conference player-of-the-year, Andrew Nicholson, limited to nine minutes of playing time because of foul trouble.  The Bonnie bench scored 14 points in their leader’s absence.

“Our bench is really good,” Schmidt noted. “I’ve gained more confidence in them. Demitrius and Andrew get a lot of publicity, but we’re here not just because of them but because of our bench and our young guys.”

Johnson scored nine in the first half, and Eric Mosley added five.

Bona stretched the lead to 16 midway through the second twenty. Charlon Kloof found Johnson for a catch-and-shoot three.  Kloof followed getting into the teeth of the UMass zone for a runner late in the shot clock.  Then Nicholson passed out of the post to Johnson cutting along the baseline for a deuce. Nicholson capped the run with a three from the top, and Bona led 70-54.

From there the Minutemen used full court pressure to come within a shot attempt of taking the lead.

Jesse Morgan and Sean Carter ran a high pick-and-roll for a layup.

After a Bona timeout, Chaz Williams found Raphiael Putney with a diagonal pass in transition for a trey.

Terrell Vinson reduced the lead to single digits with a free throw line jumper off a baseline inbound play.

“I felt pretty good even when we were down 14 or 12,” said UMass coach Derek Kellogg. “We were ready to make a little bit of run.”

After a Kloof layup breaking the press, Vinson converted another baseline out-of-bounds set. Carter hit one-of-two from the line, and UMass trailed 74-66.

Nicholson stretched the lead back to ten with a pair from the charity stripe.

Vinson answered with two of his own from the line. Williams pulled up behind the arc for three. Morgan hit two free throws. Putney stole the ensuing inbound, converted the ensuing layup, and UMass trailed by two.

“There are two ways to approach it,” Schmidt said when asked about the Minutemen press. “One is to go out and play to win. The other is to play not to lose. I think we had the tendency in the last five to six minutes to play not to lose, and that was partly my fault.”

“We had the tempo going our way,” Kellogg noted.

Conger hit three of four from the line, and Bona led 80-75.

Williams tracked down a long rebound before getting to the rim. Putney cleaned up the miss, and UMass trailed 80-77 with :57.1 remaining.

Kloof and Carter traded a free throw apiece before the UMass press created a tenth turnover of the half. Williams’s layup in traffic rolled off the front of the rim. His two free throws closed the gap to one at 81-80 with eighteen ticks on the clock.

Another inbound play created an opportunity for UMass. This time Putney got the open look, but his three found iron.

“We ran a ball-screen play,” Kellogg explained. “I yelled at him to shoot it. I thought it was a great look.”

Matthew Wright secured the rebound and hit two free throws sealing a sealing a spot in Sunday’s final.

“We found a way to win and move on,” Schmidt commented.

For Bona, it will be their first trip to the A-10 finals since 2000 when the Brown and White fell to Temple. SBU has never claimed the title. Schmidt’s crew has advanced in his fifth season, this after he took over a team that won just seven games the year prior.

“We’ve brought it back,” Schmidt commented. “My staff, our players have done a tremendous job to go from where we were to where we are.”

Conger finished two assists shy of a triple-double. He finished with game-high for points and rebounds. Nicholson added 19. Johnson chipped in 14, and Kloof had 10.

Vinson led UMass with 20. Maxie Esho threw in 16 off the bench. Morgan had 13, and Williams finished with 12.

SBU plays Xavier tomorrow for the A-10 title. A 1 p.m. tipoff is scheduled. CBS will broadcast the game.