By PAUL GOTHAM
Lost in the mix of what was a decisive 11-0 St. Bonaventure Bonnies run to start the second half of Sunday’s Atlantic 10 matchup with the Richmond Spiders was a single basket by redshirt freshman Jordan Tyson.
The basket appears in the box score as two points. The effect? To be determined.
With the Bonnies leading by two, Jaylen Adams fed Tyson in the post, and the 6-10 forward made the slightest move toward the baseline with his right shoulder. He pivoted into the lane and finished with a jump hook over T.J. Cline.
Bona had just erased a six-point halftime deficit and taken its first lead of the second half. Tyson kept momentum moving in a positive direction.
It was a move reflective of time spent in the gym honing a skill.
“You can have as much success as you want in practice, but you got to do it when the lights come on,” Bona head coach Mark Schmidt said during the Atlantic 10’s weekly tele-conference. “Seeing him do that yesterday was hopefully a confidence booster.”
Schmidt has emphasized throughout the season the need for a fourth offensive threat to compliment Jaylen Adams, Marcus Posley and Dion Wright. Exactly what Tyson did in that moment.
Adams opened the half with a pull-up three from the top of the arc. Posley used a behind-the-back dribble to set up a step-back into a jumper. Wright was fouled going to the basket. With Richmond’s defense focused on the Bonnies top three scorers, Tyson took advantage in the lane.
“He doesn’t have to be a great offensive player, but he’s got to do a little bit of that stuff inside,” Schmidt added. “I thought he did a really good job.”
Making just his fourth start in his 11th game for the Bonnies, Tyson added a career-high five blocks and four rebounds in 20 minutes. He added another basket late in the game to finish with four points.
“He brings that physicality that we need,” Schmidt noted. “His numbers aren’t great, but just being there and being able to body up guys, that helps.”
Converting Opportunities
The Bonnies converted 11 Richmond turnovers (7 on steals) into 22 points part of an overall defensive effort which held the A-10’s most prolific offense to 25-of-65 shooting (38.5 percent) for the game including 9-of-33 (27.3 percent) in the second half.
“Against a team like Richmond that plays that switching man-to-man it’s really hard to attack five on five,” Schmidt stated. “You try to get some of your offense off your defense. I thought our guys did that. We played a little bit more zone than we usually play, but I thought that was a big part of the game trying to convert those turnovers into baskets and try to get numbers against Richmond. From a defensive standpoint, that second half was probably the best that we can play.”
Scouting the Hawks
Bona‘s trip through the A-10 gauntlet (after tonight they will have faced the conference’s top three teams — Dayton and VCU earlier — in the first nine games) when Bona heads to Philadelphia to take on the Saint Joseph’s Hawks. Led by DeAndre’ Bembry (16.9 ppg/8.0 rpg) and Isaiah Miles (17.8 ppg/8.3 rpg) the Hawks have won seven straight and 14 of 15.
Miles, who has upped his average more than points a game this season, has tallied double figures in each of Saint Joseph’s 21 games this year.
“He’s just a really good player,” Schmidt said of Miles. “He’s shooting the ball. His body has changed. He just creates when he sets that ball screen and it’s really hard to guard when they have Bembry coming off and then screening and popping.”
“Their players have taken that next step in skill development,” Schmidt said. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence. They’re playing really well. We know what we’re going up against. They play really well at home.
“They’re just a very good offensive team. But they’re playing good defense too. Getting to three-point line and shocking the ball screens. They’re doing a really good job and playing with a lot of confidence. We got our work cut out come Wednesday night.”
A 7 p.m. tip off is scheduled at Hagan Arena. The game can be viewed live on the A-10 Network.
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