By PAUL GOTHAM
An 10-day layoff for final exams behind them, Mark Schmidt’s St. Bonaventure Bonnies (6-2) will take the court Saturday afternoon when they host the South Carolina State Bulldogs (5-6).
The game is the first of three before the Bonnies enter Atlantic 10 play on January 2nd against Davidson.
Senior Marcus Posley (17.1 ppg) leads a trio of scorers in double figures. Fellow senior Dion Wright adds 16.8 per game with Jaylen Adams chipping in 16. Overall, Bona scores 76 a game. At first glance that’s an improvement from last year when SBU netted 67 per contest.
“We’re better when Jay, Marcus and Dion are scoring,” Schmidt said after the Bonnies 80-68 victory over Vermont. “We’re really good when we get that fourth guy.”
Read the between lines. “We’re better when.” Schmidt knows he needs consistency from his top three scorers. Through the first eight games, Adams, Posley and Wright have all scored in double figures in just three games. One of those was an 89-83 loss to Hofstra. Another came against an overmatched Loyola (MD.) club.
Against their stiffest competition, Syracuse, the trio accounted for 28 points.
Schmidt knows getting consistent production from his top three has been a luxury up to this point. It will be a necessity when conference play gets into full gear.
“When we shoot the ball, it makes everything look better,” Schmidt said after his team outlasted a Catamounts club which tied the score 45 in the second half.
And Schmidt knows exactly when and where his offense struggles.
“When they game got tied 45-45, we became more desperate. We played better,” Schmidt stated. “The ball movement has to continue. You got to move the defense from side to side. Sometimes we get impatient, and we try to score on the first side. Against a good defensive team, a team that rotates as well as Vermont, that’s hard to do.”
It was the same way when the Bonnies barely beat Buffalo, 60-58 earlier in the season. It was a game in which SBU hit just 2-of-21 shots from behind the three-point arc. Wright netted 26 of the trio’s 45 points.
Against Vermont, Bona hit 11 of 20 from long range.
“It’s good when you shoot the ball. It’s hard when you shoot two for 21. You better rely on your defense, and that’s what we did against Buffalo. When you shoot the ball well from the perimeter, it opens up a lot of driving lanes. That’s a big lift.”
It also helps when Denzel Gregg comes off the bench and drops 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting and grabs seven rebounds in 25 minutes. Especially when Posley has an off night and scores eight.
“We’re really good when we get that fourth guy like Denzel. Denzel, he has ten points, but those are a big ten points. Marcus didn’t play the way he was capable of playing today. He had an off day. When that happens, someone else has to step up.”
A year ago, Posley scored 16.7 and Wright 13.5. Youssou Ndoye added 11.8, and Andell Cumberbatch became a fourth threat with 10.1 points per game. With Courtney Stockard (broken foot) and Jordan Tyson (torn ligament in wrist) both out indefinitely, Gregg looks like the obvious candidate to step in as the fourth contributor. The 6-7 junior forward averages 9.3 points and 6.1 rebounds.
“He was in essence that third guy that we needed,” Schmidt said of Gregg’s effort versus Vermont.
Saturday’s meeting is the first between South Carolina State and the Bonnies.
St. Bonaventure (6-2) will travel to Siena next Tuesday and host Big 4 rival Niagara the following Wednesday.
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