By Paul Gotham
A smattering of thoughts on the 163rd meeting between Saint Bonaventure and Canisius.
Attacking the zone
For the third straight game the Bonnies saw a steady diet of zone. Like Dartmouth a week ago, Canisius slowed Bona with a zone look. Dartmouth used a hybrid version. Canisius played straightforward 2-3. In between, Siena exposed Bona’s inability to connect outside the paint. The Bonnies hit 10-19 (52.6 percent) from the floor in the second half of Saturday’s , but 18-48 (37.5 percent) for the game. “We did a better job getting the ball in no man’s land behind the zone and into the middle,” noted Bona head coach Mark Schmidt.
Non-conference zone
Why so much zone? Tends to happen when you have a 7-0 center like Youssou Ndoye. It is one way for opponents to pack it in. Teams outside the Atlantic 10 are going to look for any way possible to slow Bona.
Youssou’s generosity
Bona’s senior center took four shots on the night and hit three. With the ball in his hands late in the game he chose to kick out to an open Marcus Posley for three rather than force a shot. Ndoye did grab a game-high 12 rebounds and block four shots. “If we get eight and 12 from him every night, that will be good,” Schmidt noted.
40 days in the desert
That’s what it must seemed like as Canisius missed their first 13 shots and fell behind 10-0. It took the Griffs nearly six minutes to score – much to the delight of the Bona student section. The Griffs hit 10 of 22 for the remainder of the half including 8 of 15 behind the 3-point arc to take a 30-28 lead going into the break.
6th man
Speaking of the Bona student section. They were out in full force. In the words of Canisius head coach and Bona Hall of Famer, Jim Baron: “They needed the crowd. They were great. They got ’em over the hump.” Last year the Brown and White serenaded Baron’s son, Billy, with a “Daddy’s Boy” chant. Saturday, it took 39 minutes before the co-eds felt safe enough going to the “warm up the bus” recessional.
Bookends
Marcus Posley ended the first half with a momentum shifting three. His 3-ball with less than two minutes remaining in the game, gave Bona the breathing room it needed.
The Lord giveth. The Lord taketh.
The game included three ties and eight lead changes. Five of those changes came in the second half.
Bench
The Canisius bench outscored their counterparts…get this…26-0. Nine Griffs played 12 or more minutes. Is there a Blue Team? And a Gold team?
Charity starts in the home
If SBU’s goal is to make more free throws than their opponents take, they achieved it Saturday. Bona hit 16 of 21 while Canisius went 5 of 9 (not a typo). Make matters worse, Andell Cumberbatch converted more from the charity stripe than the entire Griffs squad. The Bona senior hit 6 of 6.
Cliffhangers
Canisius is comfortable running clock. Yes,the Griffs were whistled twice for shot clock violations, but they also tallied several baskets with less five ticks in the possession. None larger than Jamal Reynolds drilling a catch-and-shoot three as the clock expired for a 39-37 Griffs edge. On the next possession, Jan Grzelinski found Josiah Heath open under the basket for two and a 41-40 advantage.
Deja Vu not so kind
Last December, Canisius traveled to South Bend, IN and had Notre Dame on the ropes. That is until a play on the baseline went ND’s way. With the shot clock running down, Billy Baron grabbed a loose ball and , as he was jumping over the end line, called for timeout. He was not awarded the timeout, and the Irish received a fresh clock. (Think about this – the younger Baron was not granted time because it was argued he did not have possession. BUT the Irish received a fresh 35 because of…yep, you guessed it, change of possession. ND scored on the play and sent the game to overtime where they went on to win. Late in Saturday’s game, Jamal Reynolds appeared to have secured a loose ball as he was falling out of bounds. Again, officials did not agree. Bona was awarded the ball.
Please to meet you. Hope you guess my name.
Raise your hand if you had Jeremiah Williams as the Griffs leading scorer. Anybody? Anybody? That’s what I thought. The senior more than doubled his career high with 14 points. He hit 4 of 6 six behind the arc and 2 of 2 from the line. His previous high was six.
They said it
SBU’s Mark Schmidt: “It was just like two blue-collar guys going after each other.”
On the road again
Canisius travels to Ithaca on Wednesday for a meeting with Ivy League rival, Cornell.
Enjoying the friendly confines
Bona hosts Jackson State, Tuesday night. Both games tip at seven.
Home of the Braves
The Big 4 will honor the Buffalo Braves with adoubleheader next Saturday at the First Niagara Center. Bona plays Niagara while Canisius takes on UB. The four teams will don retro Buffalo Brave uniforms.
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