By Paul Gotham
ST. BONAVENTURE, NY – Mark Schmidt knows a good thing when he sees it. That’s why the St. Bonaventure head men’s basketball coach made a tiny concession recently.
When Eric Mosley got a hot hand, Schmidt decided to overlook his player’s shortcomings on the defensive end of the floor infavor of his offensive contributions.
“I’m no dummy,” Schmidt said after Wednesday’s 99-94 win over UMass. “When someone’s shooting the ball the way Eric is shooting the ball, I can give in a little bit.”
Mosley tallied 21 of his career and game-high 39 during a second half which St. Bonaventure and the UMass Minutemen combined for more points (124) in 20 minutes than were scored in 16 complete games played in men’s Division 1 college basketball on the same night.
“Eric’s defending better and that’s keeping him on the floor longer and giving him more opportunities offensively,” Schmidt explained. “He’s played well the last three or four games and hopefully that continues. The effort is there, and that’s what I’m most proud of.”
The senior’s efforts on the defensive end can be partly understood in the multiple offensive charges he has taken in games against Iona, Xavier and La Salle.
In each of the last two games, Mosley faced high scoring guards in Richmond’s Darien Brothers and Chaz Williams from UMass and outdueled both of his counterparts.
“Eric’s getting there defensively. He’s not there yet.”
Mosley opened Wednesday’s game with an acrobatic layup in traffic. He curled off a screen at the top of the key and caught a pass from Demitrius Conger, using a pump fake before drawing contact and finishing off the glass. After a free throw he had an old-fashioned three point play. One trip later, he nailed a runner from outside the lane.
By the end of the first stanza, he connected on seven-of-10 from the field including three-of-five 3-pointers. The 5-10 guard’s three over the outstretched arms of the 6-8 Maxie Esho helped the Bonnies to their largest lead of the first half.
“My teammates look for me, and I just try to make plays,” Mosley said. “I feel like every time I shoot the ball, it’s going in.”
Spoken like a shooter.
Mosley started his college career at Austin Peay where he averaged 2.5 points per game playing 5.6 minutes in 20 games. The Louisville, Kentucky native transferred to Cincinnati State and Technical College where he scored two and a half points per contest for the junior college school.
He played in all 32 games for the Bonnies during the 2011-12 campaign. The sharp-shooter started the first five games of the season, but never played more than 28 minutes in a contest. He logged less than 20 minutes in 22 games. He had a season-high18 points (4-of-7 behind the arc) in a 76-70 home loss to Temple.
Wednesday, Mosley played 31 minutes and finished with 39 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the floor including five-of-eight behind the arc and 10-of-10 from the free throw line. The point production was the most a Bona player has ever scored against an A-10 opponent and the highest point total in a regulation game since Greg Sanders amassed 46 versus Detroit in 1977.
This coming four days after he dropped a then career-high 30 in a road loss at Richmond, an overtime affair which Mosley played 38 minutes.
Mosley leads the A-10 from long range hitting 67-of-150 (44.7 percent).
“He’s a pretty good player,” said UMass point guard Chaz Williams. “That’s what you do when you’re a Division 1 college player; you make shots…he did what he had to do as a team leader.”
The Bonnies travel to Pittsburgh to take on Duquesne Saturday. Mosley led three in double figures when the Bonnies beat the Dukes on February second, 68-60. At 5-7 Bonaventure sits in the 12th and final spot to qualify for the Atlantic 10 tournament next month at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York. At the same time, the Brown and White is one game out of seventh place in the tumultuous A-10.
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